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Perce,  Warren  R.  1843-1914 

Genesis  and  modern  science 


^ 


GENESIS 

AND 

MODERN   SCIENCE 


WARREN  R.  PERCE 


"Thy  word  is  true  from  the  beginning." 

Psalm  cxix.  160. 


NEW  YORK 
JAMES  POTT  &  CO. 

FOURTH   AVENUE  AND   22D   STREET 
1897 


Copyright,  1897,  by 
Warren  R.  Perce 


TIIK    NKW  VOKK   TYPK  SKTTINO    COMPANY 
I'KINTF.li   HV  .1.    .1.    I.ITTI.K   A-    CO. 


TO   MY   WIFE 

COMPANION   AND    HELPER 

IN  THE  PREPARATION 

OF   THIS   BOOK 


PREFACE. 

In  these  days,  when  the  inerrancy  of  the  Holy 
Scriptures,  their  inspiration,  and  authorship  are 
subjects  of  gi-eat  and  increasing  interest  and 
importance,  this  book,  which  aims  to  prove  the 
literal  truth  of  the  scriptural  account  of  the 
Ci-eation  of  the  world,  offers  its  quota  of  tliought. 
It  is  the  result  of  long-continued  study  upon 
that  famous  problem,  which  doubtless  has  never 
yet  been  fully  solved:  how  to  harmonize  the 
teachings  of  tlie  Bible  with  the  science  of  geol- 
ogy. There  has  been  a  disposition  on  the  part 
of  some  thinkers,  and  even  of  some  Christian 
teachers,  to  depreciate  the  authority  of  the  early 
chapters  of  Genesis,  and  to  regard  them  as  con- 
taining mere  Semitic  traditions,  of  some  literary 
importance,  indeed,  but  of  little  or  no  historical 
value.  According  to  these  thinkers,  in  the  light 
of  the  researches  of  the  "  higher  criticism,"  it  is 
by  no  means  certain  where  or  how  the  Penta- 

1 


2  PREFACE. 

teiK'li  originated,  who  the  "redactor"  or  editor 
Avas,  or  how  the  original  documents,  which  this 
unknown  compiler  has  brought  together,  came 
into  existence.  Nor  is  it  quite  clear  at  what 
point  iu  the  sacred  narrative  it  begins  to  be  true 
and  may  safely  be  believed. 

To  all  this  mass  of  manufactured  and  labori- 
ous doubt  there  is  the  clear  and  authoritative 
answer,  "Thy  word  is  true  from  the  begin- 
ning." ^ 

The  Christian  Scriptures  claim  to  be  divinely 
ins2:)ired,  and  while  by  reason  of  inaccurate 
translation  or  the  j^overty  or  uncertainty  of 
human  language  they  may  sometimes  be  im- 
perfect in  literary  form  or  expression,  their 
Avliole  revealed  content  must  be  true  iu  every 
part,  whether  in  history,  science,  ethics,  or 
tlieology.  80  mingled  are  the  statements  of  the 
natural  and  supernatural  that  no  discrimination 
between  them  is  possible  as  to  their  credibility. 
A  Bible  which  contains  scientific  errors  cannot 
be  inspired  by  infinite  wisdom.  If  it  be  false  in 
its  teachings  concerning  the  things  which  are 
seen,  the  temporal,  how  can  it  claim  our  faith 
as  to  the  things  which  are  not  seen,  the  eternal  ? 
The  word  of  God  is  not  an  amalgam  of  fact 
and  fiction,  tnitli  and  error.  Tliough  thei-e 
have  been   many,  and   still  are  some  apparent 

'  Ps.  cxix.  1()().  "  lOvci'v  word,  ffoiii  (xenosis  (callccl 
by  tilt'  .Tews  fi'oiu  its  lirst  W(»r(ls.  'In  llu'  l)t'uiiiiiiiig') 
to  tilt'  end  of  tlic  Si-riptures,  is  true." 


PREFACE.  3 

discrepancies  between  the  teachings  of  the  Bible 
and  science,  a  larger  knowledge  and  a  more  in- 
telligent interpretation  of  both  have  resulted  in 
a  growing  accord  of  the  word  and  works  of 
Clod  as  they  have  been  reverently  studied  in 
their  mutual  relations,  each  aiding,  illustrating, 
and  enforcing  the  other.  In  increasing  numbers 
the  large-minded  leaders  in  all  the  sciences  have 
gladly  devoted  their  studies  and  researches  to 
such  efforts.  ^  What  is  religion  but  the  science 
of  divine  things  as  applied  to  human  faith  and 
l)ractice,  and  what  is  science  but  the  discovery 
and  statement  of  God's  methods  in  the  realm  of 
nature!  It  has  been  finely  said,  "True  science 
and  true  religion  are  twin  sisters,  and  the  sepa- 
ration of  either  from  the  other  will  prove  the 
death  of  both." 

With  an  earnest  desire  to  interpret  truly  the 
Creation  story  as  written  on  the  sacred  page  and 
graven  on  the  rocks,  I  have  carefully  collected 
various  well-established  facts  of  science  best 
suited  for  my  purpose,  together  with  the  opin- 
ions of  eminent  scholars  thereon,  and  with  the 
aid  of  two  simple  and  self-evident  propositions 
have  so  combined  and  classified  these  facts  as 
not  only  to  reach  an  easy  and  natural  solution 
of  some  of  the  perplexing  and  hitherto  unan- 
swered problems  of  geology,  but  also  to  dem- 
onstrate the   scientific    accuracy  of   the   Book 

of  Genesis. 

1  Charles  W.  Shields,  Century,  November,  1892. 


4  PREFACE. 

T  desire  to  express  my  n])]>r('('i;itioii  of  two 
Looks,  President  Warren's  Vayadlac  Foiuul  and 
Kev.  Dr.  Hughes's  Genesis  aud  OeoJof/)/,  which 
have  been  especially  helpful  in  my  studv. 

W.  K.  P. 

PROVmENCE,  H.  I., 

July,  1897. 


DIVISIONS.       PERIODS. 


STRATA. 


ANIMALS. 


POST-TERTIARY.  '^^^^^^ 

PLIOCENE. |!f^vi'^i?j^vi^>;' 

MIOCENE. 

EOCENE. j^   -     -        -^ 

3.    CRETACEOUS    .": 
PERIOD ^ 

2.    JURASSIC  -3£^^r^^r^:^ 

PERIOD. i^i^p^S 

1      TRIASSIC  '^^^^' 

PERMIAN     PERIOD.  ^?:>' "'::?"■'" 


U  ul    U     <      ^ 


CARBONIFEROUS 
PERIOD. 


DEVONIAN  OR  OLD 
RED  SANDSTONE, 


AZOIC  TIME  OR  AGE. 


ABRIDGED  TABLE  OF   FOSSILIFEROUS  STRATA  AND  LIFE   TABLES. 


CHAPTER  I. 

GEOLOGY  VS.   GENESIS. 

The  first  chapter  of  Genesis  has  been  during 
the  nineteenth  century  the  field  of  most  severe 
])attle  between  skepticism  and  the  Christian 
religion.  Geology,  the  youngest  and  most  im- 
perious of  the  sisterhood  of  sciences,  feeling 
that  she  has  been  dispossessed  of  her  peculiar 
domain  by  the  Mosaic  cosmogony,  has  seemed, 
of  all  foes,  the  most  hostile. 

The  Westminster  Assembly  of  Divines,  in  the 
Shorter  CatecMsm,  has  given  expression  to  the 
Ijelief  of  the  Christian  Church  which  jirevailod 
until  the  present  century  by  declaring,  "The 
work  of  creation  is  God's  making  all  things  of 
nothing,  by  the  word  of  his  power,  in  the  space 
of  six  days,  and  all  very  good."  God  himself 
has  expressly  said,  "  In  six  days  the  Lord  made 
heaven  and  earth,  the  sea,  and  all  that  in  them 
is."  But  Geology  points  to  the  monumental  in- 
scriptions which  Time  has  engraved  upon  the 
rocks.     These  evidently  tell  of  vast  ages  during 

5 


6  GENESIS    AND   MODERN    SCIENCE. 

which  the  earth  slowly  progressed  to  its  habit- 
able condition. 

The  skeptic,  seeing  this  indisputable  evidence 
so  entirely  contradicting  the  simple  assertion  of 
the  Bible,  finds  here  his  strongest  argument 
against  the  credibility  and  authority  of  the 
Holy  Scriptures.  If  on  the  very  first  page  of 
the  Bible  he  finds  a  demonstrated  error,  why 
should  he  believe  its  later  pages  I 

Many  thoughtful  minds  have  been  troubled 
by  the  first  chapter  of  Genesis.  With  weakened 
faith  they  have  reasoned:  If  the  foundation  is 
unsound,  how  can  the  superstructure  be  secure? 
The  greater  number  of  Christians,  though  un- 
able to  harmonize  the  very  evident  contradic- 
tion between  science  and  the  Bible,  do  not  doubt 
that  this  difference  is  only  apparent  and  not 
real.  They  believe  that  in  due  time  the  sacred 
record  will  be  vindicated  by  the  aid  of  that  very 
science  which  has  seemed  antagonistic  to  it. 
But  if  such  reconciliation  is  seemingly  inipos- 
sible,  they  prefer  to  believe  the  testimony  of 
the  Bible  rather  than  the  testimony  of  the  rocks. 
God  has  plainly  declared  his  own  work;  there 
can  be  no  superior  evidence,  not  even  the  pro- 
foundest  speculations  of  all  the  philosophers. 
Geology  is  too  recent  a  science  (scarcely  a  cent- 
ury old),  its  investigations  have  been  too 
limited,  its  conclusions  are  too  immature,  to 
warrant  a  denial  of  the  word  of  God.  It  is 
easier  to  believe  that  God  could  and  would  make 


GEOLOGY   VS.   GENESIS.  7 

a  fossil  at  once,  and  cr.eate  matter  with  all  its 
present  appearances,  than  to  believe  that  he  has 
not  declared  the  exact  truth  about  the  creation 
of  the  world  in  six  days. 

But  years  of  careful  study  of  this  ancient 
problem  warrant  the  belief  that  by  astronomy 
and  geology  it  can  be  proved  that  the  solar 
system  was  actually  created  in  six  days.  Why 
should  it  be  thought  an  incredible  thing  that 
God's  word  is  strictly  true,  and,  however  auda- 
cious may  seem  the  attempt,  why  should  we  not 
expect  to  confirm  and  illustrate  the  book  of 
revelation  by  the  book  of  nature — if  indeed 
both  were  written  by  the  same  hand?  The 
theory  which  is  the  result  of  that  study  will  be 
presented  in  these  pages,  not  in  a  dogmatic 
manner,  but  in  the  spirit  of  scientific  investiga- 
tion. The  Christian  reader  will  doubtless 
respect  tlie  motive,  and  the  scientist  should 
approve  the  methods. 

How  has  the  apparent  discord  between  the 
natural  and  the  supernatural  revelations  been 
overcome  ?  At  first,  by  grave  doubts  that  fossils 
are  at  all  the  vestiges  of  former  organic  life.  It 
was  contended  by  some  that  the  fossil  is  a  mere 
mold,  a  lusus  naturce^  or  freak  of  nature.  But 
when  this  doubt  was  no  longer  tenable  in  the 
light  of  continued  discovery  and  research,  the 
fossils  were  explained  as  deposits  of  the  Noa- 
cliian  Deluge.  Tlie  fact  that  marine  shells  were 
found  scattered  over  large  areas,  and  even  upon 


8  GENESIS   AND    MODEEN    SCIENCE. 

the  summits  of  high  hills  and  mountains,  made 
this  explanation  exceedingly  plausible,  and 
especially  satisfactory  to  theologians.  Poor 
Voltaire  was  much  distressed  by  it.  "About 
the  year  17G0  news  of  the  discovery  of  marine 
fossils  in  various  elevated  parts  of  Europe 
reached  Voltaire.  He  feared  that  these  new 
discoveries  might  be  used  to  support  the  Mosaic 
account  of  the  Deluge.  All  his  wisdom  and  wit, 
therefore,  were  compacted  into  argument  to 
prove  that  the  fossil  fishes  were  remains  of  fishes 
intended  for  food,  but  spoiled  and  thrown  away 
by  travelers;  that  the  fossil  shells  were  acci- 
dentally dropped  by  crusaders  and  pilgrims 
returning  from  the  Holy  Land ;  and  that  sun- 
dry fossil  bones  found  between  Paris  and 
Etampes  were  parts  of  a  skeleton  belonging  to 
the  cabinet  of  some  ancient  philosopher.^ 
Through  chapter  after  chapter  Voltaire,  obej'- 
ing  the  supposed  necessities  of  his  theology, 
fought  desperately  the  growing  results  of  the 
geological  investigations  of  his  time."  - 

1  "  As  an  instance  of  his  desire  to  throw  donbt  in- 
discriminately on  all  geological  data,  we  may  recall 
the  passage  where  he  says,  '  The  bones  of  a  reindeer 
and  hippopotamus  discovered  near  Etampes  did  not 
prove,  as  some  would  have  it,  that  Lapland  and  the 
Nile  were  once  on  a  tour  from  Paris  to  Orleans,  but 
merely  that  a  lover  of  curiosities  once  preserved  them 
in  his  cabinet ' "  (Lyell's  Principles  of  Geologi/,  p.  55). 

2  Popular  Science  Monthly,  vol.  xxxii.,  p.  599. 


GEOLOGY   VS.    GENESIS.  9 

When  the  Dehige  theory  became  untenable, 
commentators  began  to  argue  what  the  word 
day  might  mean  in  the  Scripture  narrative. 

Dr.  J.  H.  Kurtz,  professor  of  theology  at 
Dorpat,^  propounded  the  unique  theory  that  the 
facts  of  the  Creation  were  revealed  to  Moses  in 
a  series  of  visions  of  six  apparent  days  and 
nights,  in  which  he  saw  as  in  a  panorama  all 
the  phenomena  and  changes  of  the  creative 
work;  and  that  when  we  read  of  the  work  of 
the  "first  day"  or  of  the  "second  day,"  we  are 
reading  about  what  he  saw  in  the  vision  of  the 
"first  day"  or  of  the  "second  day,"  although  the 
events  themselves,  thus  revealed,  actually  occu- 
pied vast  periods  of  time.  This  theory  is  widely 
held  and  has  many  able  advocates,  among  whom 
is  Hugh  Miller,  who,  in  his  book.  The  Testimony 
of  the  Bocks,  states  the  argument  on  which  it 
rests  and  gives  it  his  fullest  approval.  It  also 
forms  the  basis  of  Rev.  Dr.  Boardman's  delight- 
ful book.  The  Creative  Week,  which  has  been 
widely  circulated  and  admired.  The  unin- 
structed  reader  of  the  first  chapter  of  Genesis, 
however,  would  never  suspect  that  he  was 
reading  only  a  dream,  and  the  positive,  un- 
equivocal assertion  of  God,  "In  six  days  the 
Lord  nmde  heaven  and  earth,"  compels  a  belief 
such  as  this  theory  cannot  inspire.  We  in- 
stinctively feel  that  these  words  must  be  true, 
even  though  we  cannot  understand  them.  Per- 
^  Bihel  mid  Astronomie. 


10  GENESIS   AND   MODEEN    SCIENCE. 

haps  this  theory  easily  overcomes  all  difficulties, 
yet  we  cannot  rid  ourselves  of  an  uneasy  con- 
viction that  it  is  a  scheme  and  nothing  more. 
But  on  closer  examination  we  find  that  it  is  an 
explanation  which  explains  nothing.  The 
theory  is  loyal  to  geology  at  the  expense  of  the 
Bible. 

Another,  and  perhaps  the  most  generally 
satisfactory  explanation  hitherto  offered,  is 
this:  that  between  the  events  narrated  in  the 
first  and  second  verses  of  this  chapter  there 
was  a  period  of  vast  and  unknown  duration,  in 
which  interval  were  comprehended  all  the  geo- 
logical ages  of  whose  existence  the  structure  of 
the  earth  tells  us.  Having  thus  made  provision 
for  all  the  demands  of  geology,  this  theory  re- 
gards the  remaining  verses  of  the  chapter  as  a 
history  of  only  those  changes  by  which  the  earth 
was  prepared  for  human  habitation.  This  hy- 
pothesis was  first  announced  about  sixty  years 
ago  by  Dr.  Buckland,  and  has  been  advocated 
by  many  others  since  that  time.  It  is  loyal  to 
the  Bible,  but  not  true  to  geology.  Professor 
Dana  says:^  "Rev.  Dr.  Buckland  places  the 
great  events  of  geology  between  the  first  and 
second  verses  of  the  Mosaic  account,  but  does 
not  pretend  that  there  is  any  geological  basis 
for  such  an  hypothesis ;  and  no  writer  since  has 
ever  brought  forward  the  first  fact  in  geology 
to  support  the  idea  of  a  re-arrangement  Just  be- 
^  Biblical  Bepository,  1856. 


GEOLOGY   VS.    GENESIS.  11 

fore  man.  Not  one  solitary  fact  lias  ever  been 
appealed  to.  The  conclusion  was  on  biblical 
grounds,  and  not  in  any  sense  on  geological. 
The  best  that  Buckland  could  say,  when  he 
wrote,  was  that  geology  did  not  absolutely  dis- 
prove such  an  hypothesis,  and  that  cannot  be 
said  now." 

Professor  Dawson  ^  makes  a  strong  argument 
on  this  question  when  he  writes,  "  Some  emi- 
nent expositors  of  these  words  are  disposed  to 
consider  the  first  verse  as  a  title  or  introduction, 
and  to  refer  to  this  period  the  whole  series  of 
geological  changes ;  and  this  view  has  formed 
one  of  the  most  popular  solutions  of  the  appar- 
ent discrepancies  between  the  geological  and 
scriptural  histories  of  the  world.  It  is  evident, 
however,  if  we  continue  to  view  the  term  earth 
as  including  the  whole  globe,  this  hypothesis 
becomes  altogether  untenable.  The  subsequent 
verses  inform  us  that  at  the  period  in  question 
the  earth  was  covered  by  a  universal  ocean, 
possessed  no  atmosphere  and  received  no  light, 
and  had  not  entered  into  its  present  relation 
with  the  other  bodies  of  our  system.  No  con- 
ceivable convulsions  could  have  effected  such 
changes  on  an  earth  previously  possessing  these 
arrangements ;  and  geology  assures  us  that  the 
existing  laws  and  dispositions  in  these  respects 
have  prevailed  from  the  earliest  periods  to 
which  it  can  lead  us  back,  and  that  the  modern 
1  Origin  of  the  World. 


12  GENESIS   AND    MODERN   SCIENCE. 

state  of  things  was  not  separated  from  those 
which  preceded  it  by  any  such  general  chaos." 

The  last  theory  requiring  mention,  of  those 
which  have  been  propounded  for  the  purpose 
of  reconciling  Scripture  and  science,  is  one  so 
obviously  unreasonable  that  it  would  not  be 
regarded  seriously  if  it  were  not  sanctioned  by 
such  men  as  Chalmers,  Pye  Smith,  Harris,  King, 
and  Hitchcock.  It  is  that  the  Scripture  record 
refers,  not  to  the  creation  in  general,  but  to  a 
creation  in  a  particular  locality.  It  considers 
that  the  word  earth  in  the  second  verse  denotes 
a  certain  region,  temporarily  obscured  and  re- 
duced to  ruin,  but  afterward  fitted  up,  by  the 
operations  of  six  days,  for  the  residence  of  man. 
This  limited  territory  is  thought  to  have  been 
in  central  Asia. 

Dawson  fairly  criticises  the  theory  as  follows : 
"  Can  we,  after  finding  that  in  verse  1  the  term 
eartli  must  mean  the  whole  world,  suddenly 
restrict  it  in  verse  2  to  a  limited  region  ?  Is  it 
possible  that  a  writer  who  in  verse  10  for  the 
first  time  intimates  a  limitation  of  the  meaning 
of  this  word  by  the  solemn  announcement,  *And 
God  called  the  dry  land  Earth,'  should  in  a  pre- 
vious place  use  it  in  a  much  more  limited  sense 
without  hint  of  such  restriction  "  f 

It  is  unreasonable  to  believe  that  there  was  a 
territory  in  Asia,  or  any  other  limited  region 
upon  the  surface  of  this  planet,  which  had  no 
atmosphere  or  "  firmament " ;  or  that  the  sun 
and  moon  were  set  in  the  heavens  to  illuminate 


GEOLOGY   VS.    GENESIS.  13 

that  particular  place ;  or  that  a  special  creation 
of  grass,  herbs,  and  trees  was  required  for  the 
furnishing  of  that  country ;  or  that  "  moving 
creatures,"  "  winged  fowl,"  "  living  creatures," 
"  cattle,"  and  "  creeping  things  "  were  made  ex- 
pressly for  that  region.  Of  what  possible  use 
would  "great  whales"  be  in  central  Asia!  All 
these  forms  of  vegetable  and  animal  life,  grass, 
herbs,  trees,  fish,  fowl,  and  beasts,  had  been 
created  long  ages  before.  Why  could  they  not 
l)e  transported  to  this  Asiatic  province ?  Why 
should  a  new  creation  be  required!  And  if 
earth  in  verse  2  denotes  a  limited  area,  why 
should  it  not  have  the  same  meaning  in  verses 
26,  28,  and  29,  in  which  we  read  that  God  gave 
dominion  to  man  over  all  the  earth  and  over  all 
the  creatures,  even  "  every  creeping  thing  that 
creepeth  upon  the  earth,"  and  "every  living 
thing  that  moveth  upon  the  earth," and  "every 
herb  bearing  seed,  which  is  upon  the  face  of  all 
the  earth,"  and  commanded  him  to  "  be  fruitful, 
and  multiply,  and  replenish  the  earth  " !  If  in 
verse  1,  "  God  created  the  heaven  and  the  earth," 
the  word  means  the  terrestrial  globe,  and  if  in 
verses  26,  28,  and  29  it  means  the  same  (and 
that  this  is  the  only  possible  meaning  in  these 
instances  is  very  evident),  must  not  the  word 
earth  in  verse  2  have  the  same  meaning!  This 
theory  is  one  compelled  by  the  supposed  neces- 
sities of  the  case.  It  is  true  neither  to  Scripture 
nor  geology. 

The  theory  sot  forth  in  these  pages  may  not 


14  GENESIS   AND    MODEKN    SCIENCE. 

be  satisfactory  in  all  respects.  It  would  indeed 
be  a  marvel  if  it  alone  should  prove  to  be  fault- 
less where  all  before  it  have  failed.  Of  the 
grand  nebular  hypothesis  of  Laplace  it  has  been 
said,  "  The  striking  coincidence  of  all  the  plane- 
tary phenomena  with  the  conditions  of  his 
system  gives  to  these  conjectures,  to  use  his 
modest  language,  '  a  probability  approaching 
certitude.'"  Yet  against  this  magnificent  the- 
ory, which  satisfactorily  accounts  for  so  many 
phenomena  of  the  solar  system  as  to  have  com- 
manded the  belief  of  the  scientific  world,  there 
are  the  unexplainable  facts  that  the  satellites  of 
Uranus  revolve  in  the  wrong  direction,  and  that 
Phobos,  the  inner  satellite  of  Mars,  recently  dis- 
covered,^ revolves  too  fast.-  So,  in  like  manner, 
the  main  facts  of  geology  easily  support  the 
theory  about  to  be  stated,  while  some  of  the 
perplexing  questions  of  science  are  satisfactorily 
solved  by  it,  and  all  so  simply  as  nearly  to 
amount  to  a  demonstration.  It  therefore  seems 
probable  that  the  essential  features  of  this  hy- 
pothesis are  reasonable  and  true,  even  though 
certain  details  of  it  may  not  be.  It  is,  however, 
of  less  consequence  to  prove  a  theory  than  to 
discover  the  truth. 

At   this  point,   perhaps  more   conveniently 

1  1877. 

-  It  is  said  by  Professor  Hongli,  of  Dearborn  Observ- 
atory, that  tins  satelHte  revolves  around  Mars  in 
seven  hours,  thirty  minutes,  and  fourteen  seconds. 


GEOLOGY  VS.  GENESIS.  15 

than  at  any  other,  the  thought  usually  urged  in 
connection  with  this  general  subject  may  be 
expressed.  The  Bible  is  not  a  text-book  of 
science.  It  was  never  designed  to  communicate 
scientific  knowledge.  The  utmost  demand 
which  can  reasonably  be  made  upon  it  is  that 
its  statements  must  be  consistent  with  true 
science.  If  the  first  chapter  of  Genesis  had  set 
forth  the  Creation  of  the  world  in  full  detail, 
with  the  origin  and  laws  of  matter,  the  consti- 
tution and  movements  of  the  sun,  planets, 
satellites,  comets,  and  stars,  the  spherical  form 
of  the  earth,  and  the  various  astronomical,  geo- 
logical, chemical,  botanical,  physiological,  and 
psychological  facts  which  make  up  the  body  of 
modern  science, — and  that,  moreover,  in  an  age 
when  man  had  none  of  the  implements  and 
appliances  necessary  to  demonstrate  their  truth, 
• — such  statements  could  not  have  been  under- 
stood, or  if  understood  could  not  have  been  be- 
lieved, because  contrary  to  the  evidence  of  the 
senses  and  to  reason ;  and  so  the  spiritual  truth, 
which  alone  it  is  the  purpose  of  the  Bible  to 
communicate,  would  have  received  no  credence, 
because  resting  upon  incomprehensible,  unde- 
monstrable,  and  unreasonable  premises.  With 
even  more  significance  might  the  Lord  then  say, 
"  If  I  have  told  you  earthly  things,  and  ye  be- 
lieve not,  how  shall  ye  believe,  if  I  tell  you  of 
heavenly  things  ? "  ^  And  when  we  consider 
1  John  iii.  12. 


16  GENESIS   AND   MODERN   SCIENCE. 

how  little  is  now  known  of  all  that  is  knowable, 
how  small  are  the  present  acquisitions  of  science 
as  compared  with  what  must  yet  be  acquired,  it 
is  by  no  means  certain  that  if  all  physical  and 
mental  phenomena  were  fully  explained  in  the 
Bible  we  ourselves  could  comprehend  them. 
And  even  if  all  were  comprehended,  the  human 
mind  would  lose  as  fields  of  conquest  those  vast 
realms  of  thought  and  research  wherein  it  has 
made  its  highest  development,  and  tlie  continual 
endeavor  after  more  knowledge,  which  is  the 
grandest  characteristic  of  human  civilization 
and  progress,  would  cease.  Is  it  not  better,  and 
more  in  accordance  with  tlie  divine  methods, 
that  man  should  by  the  exercise  of  his  God-given 
powers  slowly  but  steadily  attain  to  a  knowledge 
of  all  truth,  rather  than  receive  it  all  without 
an  effort? 

But  to  resume.  The  theory  is  that  the  Bible 
is  true  in  its  statement  that  the  world  was  made 
in  "  six  days  " ;  and  it  can  be  shown  that,  by  the 
operation  of  the  simple  yet  mysterious  and  sub- 
lime law  of  gravitation,  the  earth  passed  through 
all  the  geological  ages,  immeasurably  vast  as 
they  really  were,  in  the  space  of  six  days,  and 
that  geology  itself  furnishes  the  evidence  of  all 
the  essential,  elements  of  this  hypothesis.  But 
mark,  it  is  not  said  that  the  world  was  made  in 
a  ivcck.  The  words  creative  week  are  the  relics 
of  the  supreme  error  into  which  the  thinking 
world  has  fallen.     Where  in  Holy  Writ  are  we 


GEOLOGY   VS.   GENESIS.  17 

infonned  that  the  world  was  made  in  a  week? 
The  instance  cannot  be  fonnd.  And  what  right 
have  we  to  import  an  error  of  onr  own  into  the 
sacred  text,  and  then  gravely  question  the 
truthfulness  of  the  record  because  of  the  error 
which  we  ourselves  have  fastened  upon  it  ?  It 
is  not  impossible  tliat  God  could  create  the  uni- 
verse in  a  week  or  in  a  moment.  Time  is  not 
of  the  essence  of  the  miracle.  But  the  evidence 
indicates  a  slow  progress  of  organization,  and 
it  seems  unreasonable  to  believe  that  the  strati- 
fied rocks,  which  were  apparently  deposited  as 
a  sediment,  and  in  the  aggregate  are  100,000 
feet  in  thickness,  could  have  been  formed  in  one 
hundred  and  forty-four  hours. ^ 

For  the  purposes  of  this  argument  these  three 
propositions  may  fairly  be  assumed:  (1)  God 
created  matter.  (2)  The  laws  of  matter  are  im- 
nmtal;)le.  (3)  God  is  the  author  of  life.  AVith 
these  three  postulates  it  is  proposed  to  demon- 
strate the  Creation  of  the  world  and  the  fur- 
nishing of  the  earth  in  the  period  of  six  days ; 
to  account  for  the  inclination  of  the  earth's  axis 
to  the  ecliptic,  and  show  how,  when,  and  why 
it  occurred ;  to  explain  the  former  torrid  climate 
of  the  Arctic  regions,  and  how  and  when  it  be- 
came frigid;  to  consider  the  excess  of  cold  in 

1  Such  a  deposit  in  one  hundred  and  forty-four  hours 
would  be  at  the  rate  of  694  feet  each  hour,  or  more 
than  Hi  feet  each  minute. 


18  GENESIS   AND   MODERN   SCIENCE. 

the  soufhern  hemisphere,  and  the  peculiarity  of 
the  coal-beds  of  that  hemisphere ;  to  throw  some 
light  on  the  vexed  question  of  the  glacial  periods 
of  both  the  northern  and  southern  hemispheres ; 
and  to  show  the  improbability  of  the  existence 
of  pre-adamic  races  of  men,  and  the  possible 
and  probable  universality  of  the  Noachian  Del- 
uge. 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE   NEBULAR   HYPOTHESIS. 

The  nebular  hypothesis  is  the  basis  of  this 
argument.  This  is  one  of  the  grandest  general- 
izations of  modern  science  and  one  of  the  most 
magnificent  conceptions  of  the  human  mind. 
It  was  first  announced  by  Herschel,  though 
foreshadowed  by  Leibnitz  and  Kant,  but  was  so 
elaborated  by  Laplace  that  his  name  is  most 
commonly  associated  with  it.^  This  hypothesis 
was  at  first  denounced  as  atheistical.  It  has, 
however,  been  confirmed  by  later  discoveries, 
and  is  now  generally  accepted  as  true.- 

1  The  names  of  the  great  mathematician  Laplace 
and  of  the  philosopher  Kant  are  connected  by  the 
nebular  hypothesis.  "  It  is  remarkable  that  substan- 
tially the  same  theory  should  have  been  independently 
formulated  by  two  men  whose  intellects  were  so  dif- 
ferent." 

2  Le  Conte  asserts  three  hundred  and  ninety  coin- 
cidences in  the  solar  system  wliicli  are  conformable 
with  the  nebular  hypothesis  {Johnson's  Unctjdopedia). 

19 


20  GENESIS   AND  MODERN   SCIENCE. 

All  the  celestial  bodies  composing  the  solar 
system  are  of  the  same  constituent  elements. 
The  orbits  of  the  planets  and  their  satellites  are 
nearly  circular.  They  revolve  around  the  suu 
in  the  plane  of  the  sun's  equator.  They  revolve 
around  the  sun  in  one  direction,  which  is  the 
direction  of  the  sun's  rotation.  They  rotate 
upon  their  axes,  so  far  as  known,  in  the  same 
direction,  and  their  satellites  (except  those  of 
Uranus)  also  revolve  in  the  same  direction.  This 
uniformity  of  arrangement  and  motion  indicates 
not  only  design,  but  a  common  cause. 

This  theory  accounts  for  the  rings  of  Saturn, 
the  ring  of  the  asteroids,  and  the  zodiacal  light. 
Each  separate  state  which  it  asserts  is  seen  dem- 
onstrated for  us  in  the  starry  heavens.  The 
spectrum  analysis  has  revealed  that  some  of  the 
nebulous  masses  in  the  depths  of  space  are  gases 
in  a  state  of  combustion,  and  some  of  them 
appear  in  an  elliptical  aggregation,  or  in  a  spiral 
form,  arranged  around  a  central  nucleus,  thus 
illustrating  for  us  the  earliest  characteristics  of 
the  original  mass  of  the  solar  system. 

Before  stating  this  hypothesis  a  few  facts  of 
chemistry  may  be  mentioned.  All  substances 
which  have  never  been  resolved  into  simpler 
forms  are  called  elements.  Sixty-five  ^  such 
substances  are  known.     Of  these  twenty-six  are 

^  International  Cyclopedia,  article  "Chemistry."  To 
those  mentioned  there  must  now  be  added  the  two 
elements  recently  discovered,  argon  and  helium. 


THE   NEBULAR    HYPOTHESIS.  21 

of  very  rare  occurrence,  and  of  the  remainder  a 
considerable  number  are  apparently  of  little 
importance.  The  great  mass  of  the  earth  and 
of  the  objects  upon  it  is  made  up  of  sixteen 
elements.  T]ie  elements  are  divided  into  two 
classes,  metallic  and  non-metallic;  the  former 
are  usually  electro-positive  and  the  latter  elec- 
tro-negative. Of  all  the  elements  oxygen  is  the 
most  abundant  in  the  universe  and  has  a  wider 
range  of  chemical  affinity  than  any  other.  Oxy- 
gen forms  not  less  than  one-half  of  the  solid 
crust  of  the  earth,  one-fifth  of  the  atmosphere, 
and  eight-ninths  of  the  water.  Every  element 
will  burn  at  a  certain  temperature  peculiar  to 
itself  and  will  unite  with  oxygen  at  that  tem- 
perature.    Oxygenation  is  combustion. 

The  original  atoms  of  the  elements  composing 
the  solar  system  were  flung  out  into  space  by 
the  Creative  Hand.  The  motion  of  the  atoms 
occasioned  electricity  by  friction,  whereupon 
the  oxygen  united  with  the  other  elements  and 
caused  combustion  of  the  entire  mass.  The 
first  phenomenon  of  matter,  therefore,  was  com- 
bustion, that  is,  incandescence  or  light.^ 

^  Tliis  combustion  of  the  original  elements  may  be 
further  explained  by  the  dynamical  theory  of  heat. 
"  The  absolute  amount  of  heat  generated  by  the  collis- 
ion of  a  given  amount  of  matter  is  deducible  from  a 
mathematical  formula.  Dr.  Julius  Robert  Mayer,  of 
Heilbronn,  Germany,  has  computed  the  amount  of  heat 
that  the  matter  of  the  earth  would  have  generated  if 


22  GENESIS   AND   MODERN   SCIENCE. 

The  mass  of  gaseous  matter  resulting  from 
this  combustion  would  cohere  by  reason  of  chem- 
ical affinity,  but  in  an  exceedingly  attenuated 
condition.  The  extent  of  this  original  gaseous 
mass  in  space  far  exceeded  the  present  limits  of 
the  entire  solar  system. 

The  temperature  of  the  interplanetary  spaces 
is  very  low,  estimated  by  Laplace  at  100°  below 
zero,  or  even  lower.^  The  temperature  of  the 
space  in  which  this  volume  of  glowing  gas 
found  a  place  must  have  been  much  colder,  for 
the  planetary  spaces  have  since  then  received 
great  quantities  of  heat  by  radiation  from  this 
mass  and  its  fragments. 

it  had  been  formed  originally  of  only  two  parts,  drawn 
into  collision  by  their  mutual  attraction,  and  has  found 
that  it  would  be  from  0  to  32,000  or  47,000  Centigrade 
degrees,  according  as  one  part  was  infinitely  small  as 
compared  with  the  other,  or  as  the  two  parts  were  of 
equal  size,  (The  melting  temperature  of  iron  is  1,500 
Centigrade.)  Professor  Helmholtz,  another  laborer 
in  the  same  field  of  science,  has  computed  the  amount 
of  heat  generated  by  the  condensation  of  the  whole  of 
the  matter  composing  the  solar  system.  This  he  finds 
would  be  equivalent  to  the  heat  that  would  be  required 
to  raise  the  temperature  of  a  mass  of  water  equal  to 
the  sum  of  the  masses  of  all  the  bodies  of  the  system 
to  28,000,000  degrees  of  the  Centigrade  scale"  {The 
Moon:  Considered  as  a  Planet,  a  World,  and  a  Satellite, 
Nasmyth  and  Carpenter). 

^  The  temperature  of  stellar  space,  according  to  the 
investigations  of  Herschel  and  Pouillet,  is  not  above 
—2390  F.  {Climate  and  Time,  Croll,  p.  35). 


THE   NEBULAE   HYrOTHESIS.  23 

The   outer   portions   of   this    flaming  mass, 
coming  in  contact  with  this  cold  temperature, 
caused  a  condensation  of  those  portions,  and  at 
length  such  a  difference  in  density  in  the  various 
parts  as  to  form  a  center  or  nucleus  of  such 
denser  parts.     Every  portion  of  this  nebula 
attracted  every  other  portion,  and  therefore 
there  must  have  been  a  condensation  around 
the  densest  part.     If,  in  this  condensation  and 
attraction  to  the  center  or  nucleus,  more  parti- 
cles passed  on  one  side  of  the  center  of  gravity 
than  on  the  other,  they  would  impart  a  tangen- 
tial force,  and  at  length  rotation  would  ensue, 
which  would  be  accelerated  as  the  mass  became 
more  dense.     Thus  the  atoms  of  matter  would 
gradually  be    congregated   about    the   central 
portion  in  some  such  manner  as  is  now  seen  in 
the  depths  of  space  in  the  spiral  nebula,  51  M 
Cannm   Venaticorum.     Very  slowly  this  body 
would  acquire  more  and  more  density  and  a 
proportionate  acceleration  of  rotation.    By  the 
law  of  revolving  liquid  bodies  the  mass  would 
at  length  assume  the  shape,  as  seen  from  above, 
of  an  immense  circle,  and,  as  seen  from  the  side, 
of  an  immense  narrow  ellipse,  such  as  we  now 
see  in  the  stellar  spaces  near  the  star  N  in  An- 
dromeda;  or,  in  other  words,  the  mass  would 
assume  the  form  of  a  spheroid  of  exceedingly 
great  oblateness. 

As  the  rotation  became  more  rapid  the  cen- 
trifugal force  generated  at  the  equator  of  the 
revolving  body  preponderated  over  the  force  of 


24  GENESIS   AND   MODERN   SCIENCE. 

gravity,  and  the  particles  of  matter  thus  acted 
upon  in  an  equatorial  zone  were  lifted  into  a 
vast  ring  and  finally  separated  from  the  central 
mass.  This  nebulous  ring  was  left  in  space, 
revolving  in  the  same  plane  and  about  the  same 
axial  line  as  the  parent  nebula  and  with  a  veloc- 
ity equal  to  the  peripheral  velocity  of  the 
original  mass  at  the  time  of  the  disengagement. 
This  ring  retained  its  form  until  its  particles, 
congregating  at  some  point,  gave  to  that  portion 
a  superior  density,  whereupon  oscillation  began 
and  the  ring  collapsed.  Its  fragments,  uniting, 
assumed  a  spheroidal  form  by  the  law  of  revolv- 
ing liquid  bodies,  and  this  spheroid  rotated  upon 
an  axis  of  its  own  in  the  same  direction  as  the 
central  mass  and  traveled  in  an  orbit  around 
the  central  mass.^ 

"I  shall  now  show  what  an  interesting  con- 
firmation this  theory  receives  from  a  recent 
photograph.- 

'•  There  is  in  the  constellation  of  Andromeda 
a  nebula  so  remarkable  that  its  nebulous  char- 

^  A.  n.  Green,  in  liis  lecture  on  The  Birth  and  Groirfh 
of  Worlds,  illustrates  this  part  of  the  nebular  hypothe- 
sis by  showing  on  a  screen  an  experiment  which  ex- 
hibits a  ball  of  oil  floating  in  a  mixture  of  spirit  and 
water  of  the  same  density  as  itself  and  rotating  upon 
an  axis.  As  the  rate  of  the  spin  increases,  a  ring  of 
oil  is  thrown  off,  which  collects  into  a  ball  that  revolvTS 
around  the  original  central  mass. 

2  See  Frontispiece. 


THE   NEBULAR   HYPOTHESIS.  25 

acter  was  recognized  even  long  before  the  in- 
vention of  the  telescope. 

"This  nebula  was  first  photographed,^  with 
conspicuous  success,  in  October,  1888,  by  Mr.  Ira 
Roberts,  of  Liverpool,  and  again  on  December 
29,  1888.  Our  illustration  is  from  the  latter  of 
these,  in  which  the  exposure  was  for  four  hours. 

"  The  result  is  of  the  greatest  interest,  for  in 
it  we  actually  see  what  Laplace  pictured  in  his 
mind's  eye.  There  is  a  bright  central  conden- 
sation, surrounded  by  ring  after  ring,  gradually 
dying  away  into  faintness. 

"In  one  of  the  rings  there  is  a  region  of 
greater  brightness,  which  may  fairly  be  inter- 
preted as  a  center  of  aggregation  for  a  planet. 
At  another  place,  which  is  clearly  more  remote 
from  the  center, — although  brought  nearer  by 
foreshortening, — we  have  a  brilliant  round  lu- 
minous ball,  surely  a  planetary  nebula  already 
formed.  At  a  much  greater  distance  there  is 
an  elongated  nebulosity,  which  we  may  conject- 
ure to  be  a  planetary  nebula  seen  edgewise, 
but  in  a  further  state  of  advance  than  the  other. 
It  is  worthy  of  notice  that  the  remote  planets, 

^  Within  the  last  few  years  photographic  processes 
have  been  so  far  perfected  as  to  make  it  possible  to 
photograph  faintly  luminous  celestial  objects.  An 
exposure  of  the  sensitized  plate  is  necessary  for  a  long 
time — three  or  four  hours.  The  photographic  tele- 
scope is  made  to  move  by  clockwork  to  correspond 
with  the  movement  of  the  heavens. 


26  GENESIS   AND   MODERN   SCIENCE. 

Neptune  and  Uranus,  rotate  about  axes  nearly 
in  the  plane  of  their  orbits,  and  from  the  direc- 
tion of  elongation  of  this  subordinate  nebula  it 
seems  as  though  the  like  must  be  true  here." ' 

But  to  resume  the  discussion  of  the  nebular 
hypothesis.  The  smaller  spheroid  separated 
and  formed  as  already  described  is  the  planet 
Neptune,  the  most  remote  of  our  system  yet 
discovered.^  At  the  time  of  its  separation  the 
diameter  of  the  original  mass  was  approximately 
5,500,000,000  miles. 

In  like  manner  Nej^tune  in  condensing  its 
volume  threw  off  an  equatorial  ring,  which 
afterward  centralized  and  became  a  satellite 
revolving  around  the  planet  itself. 

While  Neptune  and  its  satellite  were  thus 
forming,  the  central  mass,  condensing  yet  more, 
threw  off  another  equatorial  ring,  which,  col- 
lapsing, formed  the  planet  Uranus.  At  this 
time  the  diameter  of  the  central  mass  had  been 
reduced  to  about  3,700,000,000  miles.  The  mass 
so  detached  threw  off  from  itself  four  satellites. 

^  G.  H.  Darwin  on  "  Meteorites  and  the  History  of 
Stellar  Systems,"  in  Century  Magazine,  October,  1890. 
This  essay  formed  the  subject  of  a  lecture  at  the  Royal 
Institution  of  London,  on  January  25,  1889. 

-  The  perturbations  of  Uranus  led  to  the  discovery 
of  Neptune  by  Leverrier  and  Adams  in  184G.  It  is 
possible  that  the  perturl^ations  of  Neptune,  now  being 
studied,  may  lead  to  the  discovery  of  some  remoter 
member  of  our  system. 


THE   NEBULAE   HYPOTHESIS.  27 

Next  in  order  Saturn  was  formed  in  the  same 
manner.  Tlie  central  mass  had  tlien  shrunk  by 
condensation  to  a  diameter  of  about  1,900,- 
000,000  miles.  Saturn  threw  off  eight  satel- 
lites and  two  rings.  The  rings  of  Saturn  are 
most  singular  objects,  unlike  anything  else 
known  in  the  celestial  spaces.  They  furnish  an 
ocular  demonstration  of  the  nebular  hypothesis. 
Unlike  all  the  other  rings,  these  did  not  break,  but 
retained  their  primitive  form,  as  they  were  when 
detached  from  the  planetary  mass.  The  diame- 
ter of  the  external  ring  is  176,418  miles,  while  the 
diameter  of  the  planet  is  79,160  miles.  The  rings 
are  about  250  miles  thick  and  1,791  miles  apart. 
We  are  thus  furnished  with  visible  evidence  of 
the  extent  of  the  reduction  of  the  volume  of  this 
great  mass  by  its  gradual  condensation. 

When  the  central  mass,  still  cooling  and  con- 
densing, had  contracted  to  a  diameter  of  about 
992,000,000  miles,  it  threw  off  the  fragment 
which  formed  the  planet  Jupiter, i  the  largest  of 

1  That  Jupiter  when  detached  was  in  a  fluid  or 
plastic  state  is  proved  by  the  remarkable  oblateness 
of  its  present  spheroidal  form.  Its  equatorial  diameter 
exceeds  its  polar  diameter  by  about  6,000  miles.  The 
difference  in  Saturn's  equatorial  and  polar  diameters 
is  about  7,500  miles ;  the  difference  in  the  earth's  is 
2G  miles.  Recent  spectroscopic  observations  of  Jupiter 
seem  to  indicate  that  it  shines  partly  by  its  o^vn  light, 
thus  showing  that  its  crust  has  not  yet  sufficiently 
cooled  and  thickened  to  become  opaque. 


28  GENESIS   AND   MODEKN   SCIENCE. 

all  the  planets,  which  itself  threw  off  five  satel- 
lites. The  fifth  satellite  was  discovered  in  1892 
by  Professor  Barnard  at  the  Lick  Observatory, 
California. 

The  next  ring  or  fragment  which  separated 
from  the  central  mass  is  one  of  great  interest, 
because  it  has  suggested  many  strange  problems 
for  astronomers.  By  the  law  known  as  Bode's 
law  there  should  be  a  planet  between  Jupiter 
and  Mars,  but  no  such  planet  was  found.  It 
would  seem,  however,  that  a  planetary  mass 
was  once  there,  but  that  the  ring  in  collapsing 
did  not  form  into  one  spheroidal  body  like  the 
others,  but  broke  into  comparatively  minute 
fragments,  or  that  the  planet,  if  any  there  were, 
exploded.  The  first  fragment  was  discovered 
January  1,  1801,  since  which  time  many  others 
have  been  discovered.i  These  form  the  ring  of 
the  asteroids.  A  strange  fact  is  that  the  nodes 
of  the  asteroids  are  nearly  coincident,  which,  by 
the  theory  of  Dr.  Olivers  (1802),  indicates  their 
connnon  and  simultaneous  origin.  Hiram  Mat- 
tison,  the  author  of   a  popular  text-book  on 

1  Up  to  January,  1891,  299  asteroids  had  been  dis- 
covered {International Cyclopedia, article  "  Planetoids"). 
"  The  roll-call  of  the  asteroids,  the  pigmy  children  of 
the  sun,  continues  to  increase.  They  now  number 
440,  of  which  19  have  been  discovered  in  189G."  Ad- 
dress of  President  Patterson  of  the  Astronomical 
and  Physical  Society  of  Toronto,  reported  in  The 
Literary  Digest,  June  5,  1897. 


THE   NEBULAE   HYPOTHESIS.  29 

astronomy,  thus  summarizes  the  reasons  for 
believing  that  the  asteroids  were  originally  one 
planet.     He  says : 

"  From  certain  peculiarities  of  the  asteroids  it 
has  been  considered  highly  probable  that  they 
are  the  fragments  of  one  large  planet,  which  has 
been  burst  asunder  by  some  great  convulsion  or 
collision.  The  grounds  of  this  opinion  are  as 
follows : 

"  (a)  The  asteroids  are  much  smaller  than  any 
of  the  other  primary  planets. 

"  {h)  They  are  all  nearly  the  same  distance 
from  the  sun. 

"  (r)  Their  periodic  revolutions  are  accom- 
plished in  nearly  the  same  time.  The  difference 
of  their  periodic  times  is  not  greater  than  might 
result  from  the  supposed  disruption,  as  the  parts 
thrown  forward  would  have  their  motion  ac- 
celerated, while  the  other  parts  would  be  thrown 
back  or  retarded,  thus  changing  the  periodic 
time  of  both. 

"  {(1)  The  great  departure  of  the  orbits  of  the 
asteriods  from  the  plane  of  the  ecliptic  is  sup- 
posed to  favor  the  hypothesis  of  their  having 
been  originally  one  planet,  the  assumption  being 
that  the  explosion  separating  the  original  body 
into  fragments  would  not  only  accelerate  some 
portions  and  retard  others,  but  would  also  throw 
them  out  of  the  plane  of  the  original  orbit,  and 
in  some  cases  still  farther  from  the  ecliptic. 

"  (e)  Their  orbits  are  more  eccentric   than 


30  GENESIS   AND   MODERN    SCIENCE. 

those  of  the  other  primaries.  Although  the 
tables  show  the  eccentricity  of  Uranus's  orbit 
as  greater  in  miles  than  that  of  even  Juno  or 
Pallas,  yet  when  we  consider  the  difference  in 
the  magnitude  of  their  orbits  it  will  easily  be 
seen  that  his  is  less  elliptical  than  theirs. 

"  (/)  The  orbits  of  Ceres  and  Pallas,  at  least, 
cross  each  other.  This,  if  we  except  perhaps 
the  orbits  of  some  of  the  comets,  is  a  perfect 
anomaly  in  the  solar  system." 

The  planet  Mars  was  formed  in  the  manner 
previously  described,  at  a  time  when  the  central 
mass  had  contracted  to  a  diameter  of  about 
290,000,000  miles.  It  threw  off  two  satellites, 
recently  discovered  (1877). 

Then  came  the  formation  of  the  earth  as  a 
separate  body.  The  central  mass  was  then  of  a 
diameter  of  about  183,000,000  miles.  When  the 
earth  had  contracted  to  a  diameter  of  about 
485,000  miles,  it  threw  off  a  ring,  which  became 
the  moon.  The  present  diameter  of  the  earth 
is  7,912  miles.  This  shows  to  how  great  a  de- 
gree condensation  has  proceeded  since  the 
earth  became  detached  from  the  sun,  and  also 
since  its  separation  from  the  moon. 

And  so  the  central  mass  continued  to  contract 
and  to  detach  from  its  equator  rings  of  gaseous 
matter,  which  became  the  planets  revolving 
between  the  earth  and  the  sun.  The  sun  is  the 
present  remainder  of  the  original  fiery  mass. 
It  is  1,400,000  times  larger  than  the  earth,  and 


THE   NEBULAE   HYPOTHESIS. 


31 


more  than  700  times  larger  than  all  the  planets 
and  satellites  combined.  Its  diameter  is  852,58-1: 
miles.  The  jieriod  of  its  rotation  upon  its  axis 
is  twenty-five  days. 

Astronomy  gives  place  to  geology  as  soon  as 
the  discussion  begins  with  the  existence  of  the 
earth. 

The  following  table  is  taken  from  Chambers' s 
Encyclopedia: 


1 

■g  ■=  a 

S  B  g 
S|-2 

1 

5 

cl   1 
'-C    > 

Miles. 

■§ 
> 

Miks. 

P 

•c 

Days. 

Mercury 

35 

2,962 

386 

105,330 

88 

\'eiuis 

G6 

7,510 

1,010 

77,050 

225 

Earth 

91 

7,912 

1,040 

65,533 

365i 

Mai's 

139 

4,920 

628 

53,090 

687 

Jupiter 

476 

88,390 

27,985 

28,744 

4,332 

Saturn 

872 

71,904 

21,538 

21,221 

10,759 

Uranus 

1,754 

33,024 

10,921 

14,963 

30,687 

Neptune 

2,746 

36,620 

Unknown 

11,958 

60,127 

Moon 

* 

2,153 

10 

2,273 

* 

Sun 


852,584 


4.407 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE  FIEST  DAY. 

"  In  the  beginning  God  created  the  heaven  and 
the  earth. 

"And  the  earth  was  withont  form,  and  void;  and 
darkness  was  upon  the  face  of  the  deep.  And  the 
Spirit  of  God  moved  upon  the  face  of  the  waters. 

''  And  God  said,  Let  there  be  light :  and  there 
was  light." 

Having  thus  Lastilja-e  viewed  the  essential  feat- 
ures of  the  nebular  hypothesis,  I  will  proceed  to 
the  discussion  of  the  first  chapter  of  Genesis,  to 
show  its  entire  agreement  with  scientific  research. 

'■'In  the  beginning  God  created  the  heaven 
and  the  earth."  ^  This  grand  and  solemn  state- 
ment is  the  foundation  of  all  Christian  philos- 
ophy.    God  is  first  revealed  as  the  Creator. 

^  "  In  the  beginning  Avas  the  Word,  and  the  Word 
was  with  God,  and  the  Word  was  God.  The  same 
was  in  the  beginning  with  God.  All  things  were  made 
by  him;  and  Avithout  Lim  was  not  any  thing  made 
that  was  made  "  (John  i.  1-3). 

32 


THE   FIKST   DAY.  .         33 

"  These  simple,  familiar  words  answer  all  pos- 
sil)le  questions  as  to  the  origin  of  tilings  and 
include  all  under  the  conception  of  theism." 
■ "  The  world  was  created  by  God — not  by  chance, 
not  by  self-generation,  not  by  impersonal  powers 
of  nature,  not  by  many  agents."  "  The  heaven 
and  the  earth  did  not  exist,  therefore,  from 
eternity,  nor  are  we  permitted  to  trace  them 
backward  from  age  to  age,  till  we  lose  all  idea 
of  their  having  had  a  beginning."  ^ 

"  In  the  beginning " — that  is,  the  beginning 
of  the  material  universe.  "Before  the  world 
was,"  God  was.-  "  Before  the  mountains  were 
brought  forth,  or  ever  thou  hadst  formed  the 
earth  and  the  world,  even  from  everlasting  to 
everlasting,  thou  art  God."  ^ 

"  God  created."  Creation  is  the  prerogative  of 
Deity.  Man  cannot  create  an  atom.  He  can  only 
change  the  form,  position,  and  relation  of  matter. 
But  God  originated  matter  itself  and  gave  it 
existence.  The  creative  act  is  here  expressed 
by  the  Hebrew  word  hara^  a  word  of  compara- 
tively rare  occurrence  in  the  Scriptures  and 
employed  to  denote  absolute  creation. -^    In  this 

1  Old  Testament  History,  William  Smith,  p.  17. 

2  John  xvii.  5. 

3  Ps.  xc.  2. 

^  *'  The  word  created  means  that  God  caused  that  to 
exist  which,  previously  to  this  moment,  had  no  being. 
The  Rabbins,  who  are  legitimate  judges  in  a  case  of 
verbal  criticism  in  their  own  language,  are  unanunous 


34  GENESIS   AND   MODEEN    SCIENCE. 

chapter  it  is  used  in  two  other  instances:  in 
verse  21,  "  God  created  great  whales,  and  every 
living  creature  that  moveth  " ;  and  also  in  verse 
27,  "God  created  man."  These  instances  are 
significant  as  showing,  not  the  elaboration  or 
the  working  over  of  something  already  exist- 
ing, as  in  the  other  verses  of  this  chapter,  but 
the  introduction  of  an  absolutely  new  element 
in  each  case ;  first,  the  vital  principle  or  animal 
life,  and  secondly,  the  spiritual  life  of  an  im- 
mortal soul.  The  distinction  is  also  clearly 
presented  in  Genesis  ii.  3 :  "  God  blessed  the 
seventh  day,  and  sanctified  it :  because  that  in 
it  he  had  rested  from  all  his  work  which  God 
created  and  made." 

"  The  heaven  and  the  earth."  Observe  the 
order — the  heavens  before  the  earth.  "  The 
heaven "  here  does  not  mean  the  same  as 
"  the  firmament "  in  verses  6-8,  but  rather 
the  starry  heavens  and  all  their  hosts.  It  is 
not  unreasonable  to  believe  that  all  the  stars 
and  celestial  bodies  w^ere  evolved  from  the 
original    atoms    at   the    same    time    that    the 

in  asserting  that  the  word  hara  expresses  tlie  com- 
mencement of  the  existence  of  a  thing,  or  its  egression 
from  non-entity  to  entity.  It  does  not  in  its  primary 
meaning  denote  the  preserving  or  new-forming  things 
that  had  previously  existed,  as  some  imagine,  bnt 
creation  in  the  proper  sense  of  the  term,  though  it  has 
some  other  ae(^eptations  in  otlier  places''  {The  Mosaic 
History  of  the  Creation  of  the  ]Vort(l,  Wood,  p.  44). 


THE   FIRST  DAY.  35 

solar  system  began  its  development.  The 
spectroscope  reveals  that  the  stars  and  nebulae 
are  composed  of  elements  such  as  those  which 
constitute  the  earth,  the  planets,  and  the  sun. 
The  stars  are  but  suns  like  our  own,  and  may 
be  the  centers  of  systems  like  ours.  But  the 
starry  heavens  were  created  long  cycles  of 
ages  before  the  earth  had  any  separate  exist- 
ence. Of  the  immensity  of  the  stellar  spaces 
we  can  form  no  conception.  The  time  required 
for  the  light  to  travel  from  the  remote  stars  to 
the  eai-th  has  been  estimated  by  Seechi  to  be  not 
less  than  ten  thousand  years.  When  we  re- 
member that  light  traverses  the  space  l^etween 
the  sun  and  the  earth,  a  distance  of  more  than 
ninety-one  million  miles,  in  about  eight  minutes, 
or  at  the  rate  of  eight  times  around  the  eai*th  in 
a  single  second  of  time,  how  utterly  incompre- 
hensible are  the  distances  which  separate  us 
from  the  remoter  stars ! 

This  first  verse  seems  intended  as  a  preface 
to  the  whole  chapter,  and  states  the  general 
subject,  which  is  wrought  out  in  detail  in  the 
subsequent  verses.  So  Dr.  Robert  Jamieson 
holds :  "  This  first  verse  is  a  general  introduc- 
tion to  the  inspired  volume,  declaring  the 
great  and  important  truth  that  all  things  had 
a  beginning;  that  nothing  throughout  the 
wide  extent  of  nature  existed  from  eternity, 
originated  by  chance  or  from  the  skill  of  any 
inferior  agent,   but   that   the  whole  universe 


36  GENESIS  AND   MODEEN   SCIENCE. 

was  produced  by  the  creative  power  of  God. 
After  tliis  preface  the  narrative  is  confined  to 
the  earth."! 

"  And  the  earth  was  without  form,  and  void." 
Literally,  the  earth  was  vacancy  (toJiu)  and  emp- 
tiness {holm).     The  Eevised  Version  has  "the 

1  Professor  Winchell  writes :  "  There  is  a  little  par- 
ticle {etli)  in  the  Hebrew^  not  translated  in  our  version, 
which  (often,  at  least)  means  tlie  substance  of,  and, 
standing  before  the  words  translated  'heaven'  and 
'earth/  expresses  the  snbstance  of  the  heaven  and  the 
substance  of  the  earth"  {Reconciliation  of  Science  and 
MeJigion,  p.  321).  Such  a  translation,  if  proper,  would 
be  of  great  value  in  a  discussion  of  this  character. 
But  as  one  has  well  said  of  the  translation  of  the  Old 
Testament  Hebrew,  ''We  cannot  be  too  careful  in 
keeping  out  of  a  word  what  we  deem  should  be  in  it. 
It  is  best  not  to  squeeze  these  words  too  hard."  Pro- 
fessor Winchell,  however,  urges  his  view  with  much 
force.  He  writes  in  an  appendix  to  his  book  (p.  3G2) : 
"  The  particle  efh,  used  in  the  first  verse  of  Genesis  i., 
signifies,  in  some  situations,  the  substance  of  the  thing 
mentioned.  One  competent  and  respected  critic  as- 
serts that  certain  authorities,  whom  he  cites,  give  no 
sanction  to  such  a  use  of  the  word.  On  the  contrary 
we  might  have  cited  the  authority  of  Aben-Ezra, 
Kimchi,  Ainsworth,  Buxtorf,  Nordheimer,  and  others. 
In  addition  the  Syriac  translation  so  imderstands  the 
particle ;  and  St.  Ephraem,  the  learned  apostle  of  the 
old  Syriac  Church,  in  his  commentary  on  this  place, 
uses  tlie  same  Syriac;  word  yoth  and  understands  it  in 
the  same  way.     And  finally,  the  word  hara,  used  in 


THE    FIRST   DAY.  37 

earth  was  waste  and  void."  ^  "  Tlie  earth  "  here 
siguifies  the  cosmic  materials,  the  matter  of 
which  the  earth  was  to  be  made.  "  Void."  Void 
of  what  ?  Void  as  a  noun  means  an  empty  space, 
a  vaciuim ;  as  an  adjective,  empty,  vacant,  not 
occupied,  being  without,  destitute,  free,  wanting. 
It  has  been  suggested  that  the  phrase  means 
void  of  life.  But  life  is  not  inherent  in  nor  an 
attribute  of  matter.  Matter  has  certain  inherent 
qualities,  however,  such  as  chemical  affinity, 
attraction,  electricity,  and  the  like,  which  have 
a  relation  to  it  similar  to  that  which  life  has  to 
an  animal  body.  Of  these  qualities,  doubtless, 
matter  at  the  very  beginning  may  have  been 
destitute.  "And  darkness  was  upon  the  face 
of  the  deep"  {tcliom).  Probably  the  depths  of 
space,  the  abyss.-     "  This  word  [cihyss]^  in  its 

this  connection,  implies  in  the  Kal  conjngation  (ac- 
cording to  Gesenius)  creation  rather  than  formaiion; 
and  as  creation  in  cojitrast  with  formation  is  an  origi- 
nation of  suhstance,  the  context  fully  sanctions  the 
meaning  which  we  have  attrilnited  to  the  particle  efh." 

The  general  opinion,  however,  seems  to  be  that  this 
word  is  merely  the  sign  of  the  definite  object,  and,  as 
it  has  no  force,  it  is  not  translated. 

1  "  The  first  word  denotes  rather  the  lack  of  form ; 
the  second,  the  lack  of  content,  in  the  earliest  condition 
of  the  earth "'  [Lancje's  Conuneidarij,  vol.  i.,  p.  IGo). 

-  "  The  fii'st  state  of  the  earth  was  itself  teliom,  and 
over  this  roaring  flood  lay  the  darkness  spread  abroad" 
{Lange's  Commentary,  vol.  i.,  p.  163). 


38  GENESIS  AND   MODERN   SCIENCE. 

leading  uses,  is  associated  with  the  cosmological 
notions  of  the  Hebrews,  having  reference  to  a 
supposed  illimitable  mass  of  waiters  from  which 
our  earth  sprung,  and  beneath  whose  profound 
depths  the  wicked  were  punished."  ^  "  And  the 
Spirit  of  God  moved  upon  the  face  of  the 
waters."  Or,  "the  Spirit  [or  wind]-'  of  Grod 
moved  upon  the  face  of  the  waters."  ^  Here  two 
meanings  are  possible.  The  Hebrew  word  ruacli 
signifies  spirit  or  wind.  In  twenty-eight  pas- 
sages it  is  translated  "  breath."  ^  So  the  English 
word  spirit^  which  in  one  of  its  meanings  signi- 
fies the  soul  or  immortal  part  of  man,  is  derived 
from  the  Latin  sjnritus,  which  means  breath,  or 
a  current  of  air.  In  this  sentence,  therefore,  we 
may  have  the  personal  or  impersonal  idea  pre- 

^  Wehster''s  Unabridged  Dictionary. 

'-  Old  Testament  History,  Wilhani  Smith,  p.  18. 

^  "The  ^waters''  of  verse  2  is  quite  another  thing 
than  the  water  proper  of  the  third  creative  day :  it  is 
the  fluid  (or  gaseous)  form  of  the  earth  in  its  first 
condition"  {Lange^s  Commentary,  vol.  i.,  p.  164). 

"  The  whole  collection  of  matter,  created  in  a  fluid 
state,  was  a  crude,  indigested  chaos.  All  belonging  to 
our  system,  as  the  sun,  moon,  stars,  earth,  and  seas, 
lay  blended  together  in  one  vast  confused  mass,  with- 
out any  arrnngoment  of  their  constitiu'nt  particles, 
heavy  and  light,  dense  and  rare,  fluid  and  solid,  l)eing 
all  mixed  together"  [The  Mosaic  History  of  the  Creation 
of  the  World,  Wood,  p.  45). 

*  Younfs  Concordance. 


THE   FIKST   DAY.  39 

dominate.  If  the  personal,  the  word  should  be 
translated  "  Spirit,"  that  is,  the  Holy  Spirit.  Thus 
Rev.  Dr.  Jamieson  interprets  it :  "  The  immedi- 
ate agency  of  the  Spirit,  by  working  on  the  dead 
and  discordant  elements,  combined,  arranged, 
and  ripened  them  into  a  state  adapted  for  being 
the  scene  of  a  new  creation.  The  account  of 
this  new  creation  properly  begins  at  the  end  of 
this  second  verse."  The  Creation  is  ascribed  in 
the  Scriptures  to  each  of  the  three  persons  of 
the  Godhead  (Gen.  i.  1,  2 ;  John  i.  3, 10 ;  Neh.  ix. 
6 ;  Heb.  i.  2 ;  Col.  i.  16 ;  1  Cor.  viii.  6 ;  Rom.  xi. 
36 ;  Job  xxvi.  13 ;  Acts  iv.  24,  25 ;  compare  Acts 
i.  16).  So  Milton,  in  his  Paradise  Lost,  ad- 
dresses the  Spirit  of  God,  and  thus  interprets 
the  meaning  of  the  word  moved  in  this  passage : 

"  Tliou  from  the  first 
Wast  present,  and  with  mighty  wings  outspread 
Dove-like  sat'st  brooding  on  the  vast  abyss, 
And  mad'st  it  pregnant."  ^ 

The  word  moved  the  great  Hebrew  lexicographer 
Gesenius  declares  means  hrooded ;  that  it  is  here 
used  in  reference  to  the  Spirit  of  God  as  brood- 
ing over  and  vivifying  the  chaotic  mass  of  the 
earth.  So,  too,  Bishop  Patrick  says,  "  The  word 
we  here  translate  'moved'  signifies,  literally, 
brooded  upon  the  waters,  as  a  hen  doth  upou 
her  eggs.""    The  Revised  Version  gives  as  a 

1  Paradise  Lost,  Book  I.,  lines  19-22. 

2  Genesis  and  Geology,  p.  42. 


40  GENESIS   AND    MODERN    SCIENCE. 

mavginal  reading  for  moved,  in  this  verse,  was 
hroocUug  upon} 

Now,  if  the  Holy  Spirit  was  thus  brooding 
over  and  upon  the  chaotic  matter,  what  was  the 
purpose?  As  the  hen  broods  over  her  eggs  to 
give  life  to  her  young,  so  the  Spirit  vivified 
matter,  infused  forces  into  it  so  that  it  was  no 
longer  an  inert  mass,  but  was  endowed  with  the 
properties  which  made  it  useful  for  the  purposes 
intended. 

As  intermediate  between  the  personal  and 
impersonal  interpretations,  two  passages  of 
Scripture  may  be  cited  where  breath  and  spirit 
are  related  as  cause  and  effect.  "  And  the  Lord 
God  formed  man  of  the  dust  of  the  ground,  and 
breathed  into  his  nostrils  the  breath  of  life; 
and  man  became  a  living  soul"  (Gen.  ii.  7). 
"He  breathed  on  them,  and  saith  unto  them, 
Receive  ye  the  Holy  Ghost "  (John  xx.  22). 

The  impersonal  inteipretation  would  trans- 
late riiacli  " breath"  or  "  wind,"  and  the  Hebrew 
word  rachaph  "  move  "  or  "  shake,"  as  given  in 
Yoim(fs  Concordance.  This  interpretation  is 
well  supported  by  Psalm  xviii.  15 :  "  Then  the 
channels  of  waters  were  seen,  and  the  founda- 
tions of  the  world  were  discovered  at  thy  re- 
buke, O  Lord,  at  the  blast  of  the  breath  of  thy 
nostrils."     Here  the  word  breath  is  the  same 

1  This  same  verb  rachaph  is  ti'anslated  'fluttereth'  in 
Deuteronomy  xxxii.  11 :  "As  an  eagle  ,  .  .  flutteretli 
over  her  young." 


THE   FIRST   DAY.  41 

word  ruach.  For  a  similar  passage  see  Exodus 
XV.  10 :  "  Thou  didst  blow  with  thy  wind,  the 
sea  covered  tlieui:  they  sank  as  lead  in  the 
mighty  waters."  The  word  translated  "wind" 
is  ruach. 

Now,  if  the  impersonal  interpretation  is  to  be 
given,  the  sentence  would  signify  that  God  blew 
upon  the  face  of  the  waters  and  set  them  in 
motion  by  his  breath.  This  would  add  to  the 
conception  the  idea  or  element  of  motion. 

It  seems  quite  impossible  to  discriminate  be- 
tween the  two  interpretations.  Both  are  reason- 
able and  of  great  importance.  AVe  cannot  alf  ord 
to  exclude  either  in  order  to  adopt  the  other. 
Each  seems  to  be  well  supported  by  the  au- 
thority of  scholars  and  to  be  corroborated  by 
other  Scripture.  Why  may  they  not  both  be 
true!  If  the  human  soul  was  imparted  to  the 
clay  image  of  Adam  by  the  breath  of  God,  if 
the  Holy  Spirit  was  communicated  to  the  apos- 
tles by  the  breath  of  the  Lord,  why  may  not 
the  breath  of  God  have  given  to  the  chaotic 
mass  of  matter  the  life-like  powers  which  it  pos- 
sesses, and  at  the  same  time  have  imparted 
motion  to  that  mass?  It  seems  to  be  entirely 
reasonable.  Yet  with  either  of  these  interpre- 
tations, exclusively  taken,  the  explanation  to 
be  given  to  the  next  verse  is  consistent. 

Reviewing  these  various  definitions  and  opin- 
ions relating  to  the  second  verse  of  this  chapter, 
the   following   results   are   naturally   deduced. 


42  GENESIS   AND   MODEKN   SCIENCE. 

We  here  begin  the  history  of  matter  from  and 
after  its  creation.  We  have  a  vision  of  chaos, 
"the  rude,  confused  state  or  unorganized  con- 
dition of  matter  before  the  creation  of  the  uni- 
verse,"^ a  formless,  shapeless  mass  of  inert 
matter,  just  substance  and  nothing  more,  with- 
out properties  or  qualities,  inwrapped  in  utter 
darkness,  in  the  midst  of  an  abysmal  space. 
God  blew  upon  it  with  mighty  breath.  Every 
atom  became  endowed  with  force  and  the  whole 
mass  was  set  in  motion.  Electricity  and  heat 
were  generated  by  the  friction.  The  elements 
united  with  the  oxygen  and  universal  combus- 
tion was  the  result.  "  And  God  said,  Let  there 
be  light :  and  there  was  light." 

How  wonderfully  exact  is  this  Scripture  when 
compared  with  the  hypothesis  of  creation  stated 
in  the  foregoing  chapter !  The  first  phenomenon 
of  matter  was  light.  We  may  well  pause  here 
for  a  moment  to  admire  this  perfect  harmony 
between  Scripture  and  science. 

This  Scripture  is  either  of  divine  origin,  or  it 
is  not.  If  it  is  divine,  we  need  not  wonder  that 
its  assertions,  made  thirty-three  hundred  years 
ago,  are  confirmed  by  the  scientific  researches 
of  the  last  two  centuries.  But  if  it  is  not  divine, 
if  it  be  the  product  of  a  human  mind,  if  it  be 
the  thought  and  opinion  of  Moses,  then  indeed 
the  marvel  is  beyond  credibility.  How  did 
Moses  know  that  light  was  the  first  phenomenon 
of  matter!  How  could  Moses  have  foreshad- 
1  Welster's  Unabridged  Dictionary,  "Chaos." 


THE   riEST   DAY.  43 

owed  so  exactly  the  most  suljlime  concei^tions 
of  modern  science?  How  could  he  have  told 
the  precise  development  of  the  creative  work, 
tlie  true  sequence  of  events,  the  proper  order  of 
the  introduction  of  life  upon  the  earth,  without 
so  much  as  one  error?  Without  the  telescope 
or  spectroscope,  without  the  knowledge  of  even 
the  existence  of  fossils,  how  could  he  have  an- 
ticipated the  wonderful  results  of  scientific  in- 
vestigations, even  foretelling  the  discoveries  in 
paleontology?  How  could  he  have  constructed 
the  true  theory  of  the  solar  system  so  many 
years  before  Copernicus  and  Newton,  Herschel 
and  Laplace?  The  wonder  grows  when  we 
remember  how  early  in  history  this  man  lived. 
Grecian  history  had  not  even  begun.  Eome 
was  not  built  till  nearly  eight  hundred  years 
later.  Troy,  now  the  center  of  dim  traditions, 
had  just  l)een  founded,  and  even  Homer,  who 
innnortalized  them  in  long  years  after,  is  now 
considered  a  person  of  uncertain  historical  exist- 
ence. 

And  the  wonder  still  increases  when  we  com- 
pare the  teachings  of  Moses  with  those  of  the 
Greek  philosophers  who  flourished  a  thousand 
years  after  his  time,  for  contemporary  philoso- 
phers there  were  none  whose  names  have  sur- 
vived to  the  present.  Thales  taught  that  water 
is  the  original  element  out  of  wliich  all  other 
things  proceed.  Rarefied,  it  becomes  air;  con- 
densed, it  becomes  earth.  Anaximander  taught 
that  the  sun  is  in  the  highest  part  of  the  heavens. 


44  GENESIS    AND   MODEliN    SCIENCE. 

and  has  a  circumference  twenty-eight  times 
greater  than  the  earth,  and  resembles  a  cylinder 
from  which  flow  continual  streams  of  fire ;  that 
eclipses  are  caused  by  the  stopjjing  of  the  oj^en- 
ings  from  which  the  fire  flows;  that  the  moon 
is  a  cylinder  nineteen  times  greater  than  the 
earth;  that  the  moon's  phases  are  caused  by 
obliquity  of  position,  and  eclii:)ses  by  a  complete 
turning  around ;  that  the  earth  is  in  the  form  of 
a  cylinder  floating  in  the  midst  of  the  universe ; 
that  it  was  formed  by  the  drying  up  of  moisture 
by  the  sun ;  and  that  animals  are  produced  by 
moisture.  Anaximenes  taught  that  air  is  the 
primal  element.  All  things  are  made  from  it 
by  condensation  or  rarefaction.  The  sun  and 
moon  are  fiery  bodies  of  a  flat,  circular  form, 
and  the  stars  are  fiery  substances  fastened  like 
nails  in  a  crystalline  sphere.  The  earth  is  a 
tablet  resting  on  the  air.  Empedocles  taught 
the  existence  of  force  and  four  original  elements, 
air,  fire,  earth,  and  water;  and  this  view  con- 
tinued to  i:>revail  until  the  origin  of  the  modern 
science  of  chemistry.^  These  philosophers  rep- 
resented the  best  thought,  indeed,  led  the  "  ad- 
vanced thought,"  of  their  times.  How  fanciful 
and  crude  it  all  was !  How  science  has  swept 
it  all  away !  But  the  teachings  of  Moses,  who 
lived  a  thousand  years  before  them,  receive 
confirmation  more  and  more  as  science  pursues 
its  investigations. 

1  Evidences  of  Chnstianiti/,  Rev.  Barnas  Sears,  D.D. 


THE   FIRST   DAY,  45 

Indeed,  when  we  say  that  the  writings  of 
Moses  are  confirmed  by  modern  science,  it  is 
amazing  in  tlie  liistory  of  human  thought  how 
very  modern  the  present  sciences  are.  Chemis- 
try as  a  science  does  not  date  back  of  the  be- 
gimiing  of  the  eighteenth  century.  Priestley 
discovered  oxygen  in  1744  and  called  it  de- 
phlogisticated  air.  Hydrogen,  under  the  name 
of  combustible  air,  was  known  in  the  sixteenth 
century,  but  was  first  accurately  described  in 
1766.  The  science  of  electricity  originated  in 
the  year  1600,  but  has  been  developed  to  a  use- 
ful extent  only  within  the  past  hundred  years. 
Geology,  too,  dates  back  to  the  sixteenth  cent- 
ury, but  only  to  small  beginnings,  when  fossils 
were  thought  to  be  the  results  of  the  fermenta- 
tion of  fatty  matter,  or  of  terrestrial  exhalations, 
or  the  influence  of  the  heavenly  bodies,  or  mere 
concretions  of  earthy  matter,  or  the  sports  of 
nature.  The  modern  science  of  geology  properly 
begins  about  the  year  1788.  The  first  microscope 
was  not  made  until  1590,  and  the  first  telescope 
not  until  1609.  The  velocity  of  light  was  dis- 
covered in  1675,  and  the  spectrum  analysis  not 
until  1849-50.  The  laws  of  gravitation  were 
unknown  until  1665,  when  Newton,  a  young 
man  twenty-three  years  old,  conceived  the 
stupendous  idea  of  universal  gravitation.  Co- 
pernicus constructed  the  true  theory  of  the  solar 
system  in  1530,  and  Laplace  elaborated  the 
celestial  mechanics  in  1799.    But  Moses,  who 


46  GENESIS  AND   MODERN   SCIENCE. 

lived  1491  b.  c,  and  who  was  unaided  by  instru- 
ments and  unguided  by  the  wisdom  of  his  time 
or  of  preceding  ages,  conceived  and  committed 
to  writing  a  scheme  of  creation  which  all  these 
modern  sciences,  aided  by  all  these  instruments, 
demonstrate  as  true  and  faultless ! 

It  seems  hardly  necessary  to  say  (but  I  will 
say,  in  order  to  prevent  any  misunderstanding) 
that  I  do  not  assert  that  Moses  knew  the  facts 
which  are  the  result  of  modern  scientific  re- 
search, 7nuch  less  that  he  announced  them.  I 
simply  mean  that  he  stated  a  i:)lan  and  method 
of  creation  which  are  entirely  in  accord  with  all 
the  physical  sciences,  and  that,  too,  when  these 
sciences  were  unknown  to  him  and  to  all  men. 

Cosmogonies  are  especially  peculiar  to  relig- 
ions. Compare  the  Mosaic  cosmogony  as  a 
foundation  of  the  Hebrew  religion  with  the 
cosmogonies  of.  any  or  all  other  religions.  How 
puerile  are  the  conceptions  of  the  origin  of  the 
world  found  in  all  other  sacred  books,  or  em- 
bodied in  the  mythologies  of  mighty  Eome  or 
intellectual  Greece !  Those  are  as  ridiculous  as 
a  nursery  rhyme,  devoid  of  all  scientific  truth, 
containing  no  hint  of  any  trutli  since  discovered 
by  science,  demonstrated  as  false  by  all  science. 
Yet  the  cosmogony  of  Cenesis,  to  its  least  detail, 
is  consistent  with  all  science  and  confirmed  by 
it  continually.^ 

^  As  showing  how  dangerous  it  is  for  the  founder  of 
a  religion  to  construct  a  cosmogony,  I  may  refer  to 


THE   FIRST    DAY.  47 

It  is  far  more  probable  that  the  Scriptures 
contain  a  true  revelation  of  the  Creation,  given 
by  the  Creator  himself,  than  that  Moses,  by  his 
own  unaided  wisdom,  has  alone  and  by  so  many 
centuries  anticipated  the  best  results  of  modern 
science. 

Mohammed,  who  lived  twenty-two  centuries  after 
Moses.  In  chapter  xh.  of  the  Koran  is  this  passage : 
"  Say,  Do  ye  indeed  disbelieve  in  him  who  created  the 
earth  in  two  days ;  and  do  ye  set  up  equals  unto  him  ? 
He  is  the  Lord  of  all  creatures.  And  he  placed  in 
the  earth  mountains  firmly  rooted,  rising  above  the 
same :  and  he  blessed  it ;  and  provided  therein  the  food 
of  the  creatures  designed  to  be  the  inhabitants  thereof, 
in  four  days  ;  equally  for  those  who  ask.  Then  he  set 
his  mind  to  the  creation  of  heaven ;  and  it  was  smoke  : 
and  he  said  unto  it,  and  to  the  earth,  Come,  either 
obediently,  or  against  your  will.  They  answered,  We 
come,  obedient  to  thy  command.  And  he  formed  them 
into  seven  heavens,  in  two  days ;  and  revealed  unto 
every  heaven  its  office.  And  we  adorned  the  lower 
heaven  with  lights,  and  placed  therein  a  guard  of 
angels." 

Of  the  Flood  he  says  (chap,  xi.) :  Noah  "built  the 
ark ;  and  so  often  as  a  company  of  his  people  passed 
by  him,  they  derided  him :  but  he  said,  Though  ye 
scoff  at  us  now,  we  will  scoff  at  you  hereafter,  as  ye 
scoff  at  US;  and  ye  shall  surely  know  on  whom  a 
punishment  shall  be  inflicted,  which  shall  cover  him 
with  shame,  and  on  whom  a  lasting  punishment  shall 
fall.  Thus  were  they  emploj'ed  until  our  sentence 
was  put  in  execution,  and  the  oven  poured  fortli  tvater" 


48  GENESIS   AND    MODERN    SCIENCE. 

I  have  used  the  word  prohahJe.,  and  have  done 
so  designedly.  What  are  the  probabilities? 
Mathematicians  have  computed  probabilities 
scientifically  and  ascertained  the  laws  even  of 
chance  itself.^  There  are  in  the  first  chapter  of 
Genesis  more  than  two  hundred  assertions 
which  are  capable  of  being  contradicted.  But 
suppose  we  select  only  fifty  of  this  number  as 
affording  the  opportunity  of  egregious  mistakes. 
The  mathematical  rule  is,  "  The  probability  of 
any  number  of  independent  events  all  happening 
together  is  the  product  of  their  several  proba- 
bilities." -  Suppose  that  there  are  fifty  items  or 
events  which  must  concur.  The  ratio  would 
then  be  1 :  2^°.  The  probability  that  Moses  could 
name  as  a  guess  fifty  items,  all  of  which  would 
concur,  would  be  1  chance  as  against  1,125,- 

1  See  Essay  on  ProhaMities,  by  Augustus  de  Morgan, 
professor  of  mathematics  in  Trinity  College,  Cam- 
bridge, chap,  ii.,  p.  49. 

-  To  illustrate.  I  will  saj^  a  certain  event  will  hap- 
pen. There  are  two  chances:  it  may  happen  or  it 
may  not.  Let  a  stand  for  the  event,  and  s  for  the 
failure  of  the  event.  We  then  have  the  two  chances, 
z  and  a.  Suppose  I  prophesy  the  concurrence  of  two 
events,  a,  h.  The  chances  now  are  z,  that  neither  of 
them  will  happen,  that  a  will  happen  witliout  h,  tliat 
b  will  happen  without  a,  and  that  a,  h  will  liappcni  to- 
gether. The  concurrence  is  one  chance  out  of  four. 
As  each  item  may  happen  or  may  not,  let  2  ecpial  the 
probability  of  each  item  (supposing  them  to  be  of 
equal  probability).     The  ratio  would  then  be  1 ;  2-. 


THE   FIRST   DAY. 


49 


900,713,242,624  chances  that  he  could  not !  For, 
supposing  there  is  an  equal  chance  for  the  hap- 
pening or  the  failure  of  any  one  of  these  partic- 
ulars, it  is  so  many  as  above  named  to  one  that 
they  never  all  occur  in  any  way. 

We  thus  see  that  if  Moses  has  named  correctly 
in  the  first  chapter  of  Genesis  fifty  particular 
events,  which  together  constitute  the  record  of 
the  Creation,  he  has  succeeded  by  one  chance  as 
against  eleven  hundred  and  twenty-five  millions 
of  millions  of  chances  of  failure  !     And  this,  too, 

So  let  there  be  three  events  foretold,  a,  b,  c.  The 
possibilities  then  are : 


One  chance  out  of  eight, 
or  1 :  23 


") 

without  h,c 

h 

"      a,c 

c, 

"      a,b 

a,b, 

"       c 

a,c, 

"      h 

h,c, 

"       a 

a,h,c 

Let  tliere  be  four  events,  a,  h,  c,  d,  to  concur, 
possibilities  are : 


The 


a, 

h 

d, 

a,b, 

a,c, 

a,d, 

b,c, 

h,d, 

c,d, 

a,b,c, 

(i,b,d, 

a,c,d, 

b,c,d, 

a,b,c,d 


^ 

without  h,c,d  \ 

a,c,d 

a,b,d 

a,b,c 

c,d 

b,d 

b.c 

(i,d 

a,c 

a,b 

d 

c 

b 

a 

One  chance  out  of  sixteen, 
or  1 :  2* 


50  GENESIS   AND   MODERN   SCIENCE. 

against  all  the  probability  that  such  a  guess 
would  be  asserted  as  a  divine  revelation,  and 
that  the  fraud  would  be  pei-petrated  l)y  a  man 
wiiose  laws  have  had  a  controlling  influence  on 
all  legislation  since  his  day,  and  whose  religious 
influence  has  dominated  three  of  the  greatest 
religions  that  the  world  has  ever  known. 

It  is  easier  and  more  reasonable  to  accept  the 
first  chapter  of  Genesis  as  a  divine  revelation 
than  to  believe  that  Moses  thought  out  all  these 
propositions  of  fact  and  philosophy  by  his  own 
wisdom.  It  is  easier  to  believe  in  such  a  God 
than  in  such  a  Moses. 

It  has  been  objected  by  superficial  thinkers 
that  the  Mosaic  record  bears  on  its  face  a  con- 
tradiction in  that  it  declares  the  creation  of  light 
on  the  "  first  day  "  and  the  creation  of  the  sun, 
moon,  and  stars  on  the  "fourth  day."  How  could 
there  be  light,  say  they,  before  there  was  a  sun? 
Laplace,  however,  has  shown  in  the  nebular 
hypothesis  this  very  order,  making  the  light 
antedate  the  separate  existence  of  the  sun  by 
many  ages.  If  this  sequence  is  not  inconsistent 
with  science  as  expounded  by  its  most  illustrious 
scholars,  it  is  certainly  no  reason  for  doubting 
the  credibility  and  authority  of  the  Scriptures, 
which  announced  the  same  fact  more  than  three 
thousand  years  before  Laplace  or  Hersehel.  In- 
deed, if  Moses  had  written  a  philosophy  of  his 
own,  he  never  would  have  fallen  into  so  obvious 
an  error  as  to  put  the  creation  of  light  before 


THE   FIEST   DAY.  51 

the  creation  of  the  himinaries.  But  the  Bible 
does  make  the  assertion,  simply  and  boldly ;  an 
assertion  which  was  contrary  to  the  reason  of 
mankind  until,  during  the  last  century,  scien- 
tists, arguing  from  purely  scientific  premises, 
have  shown  to  the  world  the  truth  of  this  first 
scientific  statement  of  the  Bible. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE   FIRST   DAY  {Concluded). 

"  And  God  saw  tlie  light,  that  it  was  good :  and 
God  divided  the  light  from  the  darkness. 

"  And  God  called  the  light  Day,  and  the  darkness 
he  called  Night.  And  the  evening  and  the  morn- 
ing were  the  first  day." 

This  passage  is  of  great  interest.  It  contains 
the  first  mention  of  the  word  daij.  What  does 
it  mean  ? 

The  word  very  evidently  does  not  mean  in  the 
first  instance  what  it  means  in  the  next  sentence, 
for  there  it  denotes  the  sum  total  of  the  first 
night  and  the  first  day.  Here  it  signifies  simply 
a  period  of  light  as  distinguished  from  a  period 
of  darkness.  Is  it  in  this  case  significant  of 
time  or  duration  ?  E\adently  not,  but  rather  a 
word  denoting  brightness  or  light.  How  long 
a  period  does  the  word  datj  denote?  At  the 
present  time  and  in  this  sense  it  means  the 
period  between  sunrise  and  sunset.    But  even 

52 


THE    FIEST   DAY.  53 

now,  in  these  last  years  of  the  world's  existence, 
this  is  an  indefinite  time-measure  and  varies  con- 
tinually at  different  places  upon  the  earth,  except 
twice  in  each  year,  that  is,  at  the  vernal  and 
autumnal  equinoxes.  The  points  of  the  inter- 
section of  the  ecliptic  and  the  equator  are  called 
the  points  of  equinox,  a  word  of  Latin  derivation 
{(Fqiius,  "  equal,"  and  nox,  "  night "),  signifying 
that  the  day  and  night  are  equal  in  duration 
over  all  the  earth.  But  when  the  sun  is  north 
or  south  of  the  equator  the  days  are  variable  in 
length ;  for  example,  in  the  latitude  of  St.  Peters- 
burg the  period  between  sunrise  and  sunset 
varies  during  the  year  from  five  hours  to  nine- 
teen hours,  while  at  the  poles  the  day  is  six 
months  long. 

But  we  must  remember  that  the  conditions 
on  this  "  first  day  "  were  entirely  different  from 
those  existing  in  these  last  days.  The  daij  could 
not  then  have  signified  the  time  between  sun- 
rise and  sunset.  There  was  as  yet  no  sun  to 
rise  or  set,  and  no  earth  with  reference  to  which 
the  sun  could  be  in  such  a  relation,  if  there  had 
been  a  sun.  There  was  in  the  whole  solar  sys- 
tem but  one  glowing  mass  of  burning  gases,  not 
yet,  nor  for  long  ages  afterward,  condensed  even 
into  a  liquid  condition.  How,  then,  could  this 
first  day  have  resembled  in  any  respect  the  days 
of  the  present  era,  the  interval  between  two 
nights?  This  one  mass  was  incandescent.  The 
light  radiated  from  it  in  all  directions.     There 


54  GENESIS   AND   MODERN   SCIENCE. 

was,  in  tlie  whole  space  of  the  solar  system,  no 
place  of  darkness.  Darkness  was  impossible. 
Even  when,  after  long  ages,  planet  after  planet 
was  detached,  these  planetary  masses,  no  less 
than  the  central  mass,  were  all  incandescent. 
The  earth  itself  shone  like  a  star  for  ages  after 
it  was  separated  from  the  parent  mass.  What 
the  sun  is  now  the  earth  once  was,  differing  in 
nothing  except  magnitude  and  motion.  Is  there 
any  darkness  in  the  sun  ?  Does  it  derive  light 
from  any  other  luminary?  No;  it  is  the  only 
orb  in  our  system  of  worlds  of  which  it  can  be 
said  there  is  no  night  there.  It  shines  with  its 
own  light,  emanating  from  its  own  mass  and 
flooding  the  celestial  spaces.  Such  was  the 
earth  also  for  incalculable  ages. 

"  And  the  evening  and  the  morning  were  the 
first  day." 

We  have  seen  that  it  is  an  error,  though  a 
common  one,  to  reckon  "  the  first  day  "  by  any 
reference  to  our  present  time  or  standards  of 
measurement.  In  this  second  use  of  the  word 
day  the  difficulty  apparently  increases.  Here 
the  word  denotes  more  than  a  i:>eriod  of  light. 
It  signifies  the  sum  of  a  period  of  darkness  and 
a  period  of  light ;  a  time  of  darkness  at  a  period 
when,  in  the  whole  space  of  the  solar  system, 
darkness  was  an  impossibility.  Yet  in  this  sec- 
ond instance  the  word  day  is,  without  doubt, 
used  as  a  measure  of  time. 

What  can  it  mean  ?    Let  us  seek  for  wisdom  in 


THE   FIRST   DAY.  55 

the  dictionary.     We  read  first  tliat  a  day  is  "  the 
period  between  sunrise  and  sunset."     This  defi- 
nition, as  we  have  ah-eady  seen,  is  not  applicable 
to  "  the  first  day."     The  second  definition  seems 
more  helpful :  "  the  period  of  the  earth's  revolu- 
tion upon  its  axis."     That  at  least  is  a  definite 
period,  always  the  same.     Yes;  for  thousands 
of  years  the  earth  has  revolved  on  its  axis  once 
in  twenty-four  hours.  ^     But  if  there  w^ere  an 
earth  at  all,  did  it  revolve  on  its  axis  in  that 
time  on  "  the  first  day  "  I     Certainly  not ;  unless 
it  was  of  the  same  volume  and  density  as  now. 
But  this  we  know  was  not  the  case.     Science 
teaches  us  that  the  earth  was  once  in  a  molten 
condition  and  was  a  more  difi:use  mass  than  it 
now  is.     The  present  polar  diameter  of  the  earth 
is  twenty-six  miles  shorter  than  its  equatorial 
diameter,  and  this  fact  is  incontrovertible  proof 
that  the  earth  was  formerly  in  a  liquid  or  semi- 
liquid  condition.     A  simple  rule  in  the  science 
of  mechanics  is  that  the  velocity  of  a  revolving 
li(iuid  body  is  rapidly  increased  by  a  contraction 
of  its  mass.     The  earth,  then,  could  not  alw^ays 
have  rotated  upon  its  axis  as  rapidly  as  now, 
because  its  original  volume  has  contracted  to  its 
present  dimensions.     Who  can  conjecture  what 
the  velocity  of  the  rotation  of  that  one  nebulous 
mass  must  have  been  in  its  earliest  movements  ? 
It  would  seem  that  it  must  have  been  very  slow; 
but  this  investigation  is  beyond  the  reach  of 

1  23  hours,  56  minutes,  4^^  seconds. 


56  GENESIS   AND   MODERN   SCIENCE. 

human  wisdom.  It  is,  however,  absohitely  cer- 
tain that  the  rate  of  rotation  could  not  have 
been  so  rapid  as  to  complete  a  revolution  in 
twenty-four  hours.  That  would  have  been  a 
physical  impossibility. 

Besides,  what  would  rotation  under  such  cir- 
cumstances accomplish,  which  could  serve  as  a 
measure  of  time?  It  would  bring  no  change 
from  light  to  darkness.  The  earth  was  itself 
luminous,  a  ball  of  fire.  Eotation  of  such  a 
blazing  globe  would  have  no  significance  as  to 
time.  The  sun  now  rotates  upon  its  axis  once 
in  twenty-five  days,  but  there  comes  no  dark- 
ness nor  shadow  over  its  flaming  surface.  In 
like  manner,  however  fast  or  slowly  the  earth 
rotated,  wliile  incandescent  it  could  find  no  place 
of  darkness. 

By  these  simple  considerations  we  can  see 
how  thoughtless  and  unreasonable  is  the  con- 
clusion that  "  the  first  day"  was  but  twenty-four 
hours  long.  The  length  of  that  day  is  beyond 
human  computation.  We  have  no  means  of 
calculation. 

Still,  here  stand  the  sacred  words:  "The 
evening  and  the  morning  were  the  first  day." 
What  do  they  mean  ? 

I  now  give  the  first  key  to  my  theory  by 
stating  an  exact  definition  of  the  word  day — a 
definition  which  will  suit  all  the  varying  condi- 
tions in  the  history  of  the  world,  a  definition 
which  the  word  of  God  itself  affords.    A  day 


THE   FIEST   DAY.  57 

is  a  period  of  darkness  followed  by  a  period  of 
cosmic  or  solar  ligbt,  whether  tliat  alternation 
occnrs  in  twenty-four  hours,  or  in  one  year,  or 
in  myriads  of  years.  One  such  alternation  con- 
stitutes one  day. 

When  was  the  period  of  darkness  1  The  Bible 
tells  us :  "  The  earth  was  without  form,  and  void ; 
and  darkness  was  upon  the  face  of  the  deep." 

When  was  the  period  of  light?  The  Bible 
tells  us:  "God  said,  Let  there  be  light:  and 
there  was  light." 

This  darkness  and  this  light  constituted  "  the 
first  day." 

How  long  was  that  day?  No  human  mind 
ever  knew  or  can  know.  It  continued  until 
there  was  a  second  period  of  darkness,  as  we 
are  expressly  told  in  the  sacred  text.  It  there- 
fore must  have  continued  during  all  the  time 
while  the  original  mass  was  passing  by  combus- 
tion into  a  gaseous  form,  and  while  it  was 
condensing  and  rotating  and  detaching  its  equa- 
torial rings,  and  while  the  planets  and  their 
satellites  were  forming,  until  at  length  the  earth 
had  passed  from  its  gaseous  condition  into  a 
state  of  liquidity,  aud  a  crust  was  spread  over 
it,  and  it  became  thenceforth  oi:>aque. 

This  immense,  incalculable  period  was  "the 
first  day." 

So  thoroughly  are  we  imbued  by  education 
with  the  idea  that  the  rotation  of  the  earth  upon 
its  axis  is  the  cause  of  the  alternation  of  day 


58  GENESIS   AND   MODERN   SCIENCE. 

and  night  that  it  seems  difficult  to  conceive  that 
this  alternation  could  ever  have  been  caused 
otherwise ;  and  as  the  period  of  this  rotation  is 
now  about  twenty-four  hours,  we  hasten  to  the 
conclusion  that  the  "first  day"  must  have  been 
twenty-four  hours  long.  We  have,  however, 
seen  that  during  the  first  period  equivalent  in 
duration  to  our  twenty-four  hours  there  was 
neither  a  sun  to  rise  or  set,  nor  an  earth  to 
revolve.  I  need  only  add  that  during  that  time 
there  could  not  have  been  any  rotation.  The 
elements  were  then  and  for  a  long  time  there- 
after in  a  state  of  combustion,  uniting  in  a 
gaseous  condition.  Eotation  could  not  even 
have  commenced  until  gravitation  and  conden- 
sation began  to  assemble  the  denser  particles 
into  a  nucleus.  Condensation  could  not  have 
commenced  until  all  the  original  atoms  had  been 
transmuted  into  gas  and  refrigeration  had  begun 
to  contract  the  external  j^ortions  of  the  gaseous 
volume  to  a  denser  condition.  This  result  could 
not  have  been  reached  in  twenty-four  hours, 
and  perhaps  not  in  twenty-four  centuries.  If, 
then,  at  the  beginning  and  for  an  indefinitely 
long  time  afterward  there  was  only  a  blazing, 
shapeless  mass  of  matter,  if  as  yet  there  was 
neither  a  sun  nor  an  earth  as  such,  nor  in  the 
whole  material  universe  any  rotation  of  any- 
thing, how  unreasonable  and  unfounded  is  the 
idea,  so  long  eherislK^d,  that  "  the  first  day"  was 
but  twenty-four  hours  long ! 


THE   FIRST   DAY.  59 

Considering,  moreover,  for  how  short  a  time 
comparatively  the  earth  has  rotated  upon  its 
axis  once  in  twenty- four  hours,  why  should  we 
make  its  present  velocity  of  rotation  a  standard 
of  the  measurement  of  its  velocity  when  its 
diameter  was  about  five  hundred  thousand 
miles!  If  a  sphere  of  such  dimensions  should 
rotate  once  in  twenty-four  hours,  the  equatorial 
velocity  of  rotation  would  be  at  the  rate  of  sixtj'- 
five  thousand  miles  an  hour.  No  such  rapid 
rotation  is  known  in  the  solar  system.  The 
present  equatorial  velocity  of  the  earth's  rota- 
tion is  but  one  thousand  and  forty  miles  an 
hour.^ 

Then,  too,  it  is  a  trivial  and  unworthy  con- 
ception that  the  grand  movements  of  the  origi- 
nal mass,  which  were  in  progress  befoi-e  the 
earth  began  its  separate  existence,  should  be 
reckoned  by  standards  of  time  then  impossible, 
and  which  are  peculiar  to  only  the  last  stage 
of  one  of  the  smallest  fragments  of  that  mass. 
If  rotation  is  to  furnish  the  standard  of  meas- 
urement, why  should  it  not  be  the  rotation  of 
the  original  mass  itself,  or,  afterward,  the  rota- 
tion of  the  central  mass  ?  Or,  if  planetary  rota- 
tion is  to  be  selected  for  the  purpose,  why  not 

^  ''Where  are  we  to  get  twelve  hours  for  this  first 
night?  Where  is  the  point  of  commencement  when 
darkness  began  to  be  on  the  face  of  the  waters  ?  All 
is  vast,  snhlirae,  immeasurable"  {Lamje^s  Commentanj, 
vol.  i.,  p.  132). 


60  GENESIS   AND   MODERN    SCIENCE. 

take  the  Neptunian  day,  the  Uranian,  the  Sa- 
turnian,  or  the  Jovian!  Why  pass  over  these 
earher  standards  of  time  and  adopt  the  terres- 
trial day  as  the  means  of  reckoning  those  first 
movements  of  matter  ?  If  present  rates  of  rota- 
tion are  proper  to  be  taken  for  this  purpose, 
why  not  take  for  a  standard  of  measurement, 
within  the  solar  system,  the  rotation  of  its  great 
common  center,  the  sun  itself,  which  rotates  on 
its  axis  once  in  twenty-five  days,  rather  than 
that  of  one  of  the  lesser  planets,  the  earth,  which 
occupies  no  such  important  or  central  relation 
to  the  sisterhood  of  planets  ? 

The  more  carefully  this  subject  is  considered, 
the  more  conclusive  must  appear  the  oj^inion 
that  rotation  upon  the  earth's  axis  is  not  the 
true  criterion  of  the  measure  of  a  day  in  all  ages 
in  the  history  of  the  earth,  and  that  there  is  but 
one  definition  of  universal  application  amid  all 
the  varieties  of  circumstances  in  the  develop- 
ment of  our  system,  and  that  is  the  one  I  have 
given,  which,  indeed,  the  Bible  itself  gives:  a 
day  is  one  alternation  of  darkness  and  cosmic  or 
solar  light. 

In  closing  this  chapter  it  is  worth  while  to 
notice  the  peculiar  order  in  the  sentence,  "  And 
the  evening  and  the  morning  were  the  first  day" ; 
the  evening  first,  thus  reversing  the  order  most 
familiar  in  our  thought.  Tlie  Revised  Version 
even  more  forcibly  and  more  simply  phrases  the 
idea:  "And  there  was  evening  and  there  was 


THE   FIRST   DAY.  Gl 

morning,  one  day.^i  The  whole  idea  is  that 
there  was  a  period  of  darkness  and  a  period  of 
light,  and  that  these  two  constituted  the  "  first 
day."  In  this  order  we  see  the  exactness  of  the 
Scripture  in  stating  the  facts  as  science  has  de- 
termined them.  There  is  no  conflict  between 
science  and  the  Bible  as  to  the  wonderful  events 
of  "  the  first  day." 

1  The  Douay  Version  has  it,  "  And  there  was  evening 
and  moruiug  one  day." 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE   SECOND   DAY. 

"  And  God  said,  Let  there  be  a  firmament  in  the 
midst  of  the  waters,  and  let  it  divide  the  waters 
from  the  waters. 

''  And  God  made  the  firmament,  and  divided  the 
waters  which  were  nnder  the  firmament  from  the 
waters  which  were  above  the  firmament :  and  it 
was  so. 

"And  God  called  the  firmament  Heaven.  And 
the  evening  and  the  morning  were  the  second  day." 

In  my  thoughts  as  a  child  I  used  to  wonder 
why  God  did  so  little  on  the  first  day  as  to 
create  light  and  so  little  on  the  second  day  as  to 
make  the  sky,  but  on  the  next  four  days  made 
so  many  things.  But  the  work  of  the  "  first  day," 
as  we  have  seen,  was  of  the  greatest  magnitude, 
and  its  chief  characteristic  was  the  breaking 
forth  and  prevalence  of  light.  In  no  single  word 
could  the  work  of  the  "  first  day  "  liave  been  so 
well  comprehended  as  in  the  one  word  I'ujht.  So, 
too,  the  events  of  the  "second  day"  were  of 

62 


THE   SECOND   DAY.  63 

great  importance  and  oeenpied  a  vast  time,  yet 
no  single  description  of  them  could  be  move 
comprehensive  and  characteristic  than  that  con- 
tained in  the  Bible.  Let  us  attend  to  the  teach- 
ings of  science  on  this  subject. 

As  the  mass  of  the  earth  became  more  dense 
and  contracted  to  about  its  present  dimensions, 
new  phenomena  appeared  in  its  development. 
At  the  first  the  earth  shone  with  the  light  of  its 
own  incandescence,  not  dependent  in  any  degree 
upon  the  central  sun  for  light.  But  before  it 
lost  its  incandescence,  while  yet  it  shone  in  the 
brightness  of  its  own  liglit,  an  opaque  veil  was 
spread  between  the  earth  and  the  sun,  cutting 
off  all  rays  of  light  which  emanated  from  the 
sun  or  other  incandescent  masses  of  the  solar 
system. 

In  the  partial  cooling  down  of  the  terrestrial 
mass  some  of  the  substances  composing  it  w^ould 
pass  from  a  gaseous  to  a  liquid  condition  at  a 
certain  temperature,  while  others  would  remain 
in  a  state  of  gas  or  vapor  and  would  form  around 
the  terrestrial  spheroid  an  envelope  or  atmos- 
phere. The  word  atmosphere  is  of  Greek 
origin,  derived  from  atmos,  vapory,  and  spliaira., 
sphere.  The  extent  of  the  primitive  atmosphere 
doubtless  reached  to  the  moon.  It  included,  in 
short,  in  a  state  of  vapor,  the  enormous  mass  of 
waters  which  now,  in  their  condensed  form, 
constitute  the  mighty  ocean,  and,  besides  these, 
many  substances  which,  in  the  high  temperature 


64  GENESIS   AND    MODEllN    SCIENCE. 

then  prevailing,  still  remained  in  a  gaseous  con- 
dition. The  heaviest  vapors,  as  of  the  metals, 
would  also  be  the  thickest,  and  they  would  be 
opaque,  though  the  earth  was  still  at  a  red  heat. 
Next  above  them  would  come  the  more  vapo- 
rizable  substances,  such  as  the  metallic  and  alka- 
line chlorides,  etc.,  and  above  them  all  watery 
vapor  or  steam,  in  combination  with  substances 
naturally  gaseous,  as  carbonic  acid,  azote,  etc. 
In  this  manner  would  our  globe  circulate  in 
space,  carrying  in  its  train  the  burning  streaks 
of  its  multiplied  atmosphere,  unfitted  as  yet  for 
living  beings,  and  absolutely  veiled  from  the 
rays  of  the  sun,  around  which,  nevertheless,  it 
described  its  gigantic  curve. ^ 

And  so  gradually  the  light  grew  dim  upon 
the  earth.  The  earth,  losing  its  incandescence, 
at  length  glowed  with  a  lurid  glare,  and  its  red 
crust  grew  darker  and  darker,  and  then  gleamed 
no  more.  Now  came  a  time  of  profound  dark- 
ness. Light  no  longer  was  emitted  from  the 
internal  fires,  and  the  dense  atmosphere  of 
metallic  vapors  and  steam  was  impenetrable  to 
the  solar  rays, 

A  solid  film  had  inclosed  the  liquid  fires  of 
the  earth's  mass,  and  continued  refrigeration 
thickened  this  film  into  a  firm  crust. 

The  heated  currents  of  the  atmosphere,  rising 
from  the  earth  to  the  remotei-  limits  of  the  va- 

^  This  paragraph  is  substantially  from  Figuier,  The 
World  before  the  Deluge,  p.  33  et  seq. 


THE    SECOND   DAY.  65 

porous  envelope,  came  in  contact  with  the  frigid 
temperature  of  the  interplanetary  spaces  (which, 
as  already  mentioned,  Laplace  has  estimated  at 
100°  below  zero),  and  so  were  condensed  and 
precipitated  in  the  form  of  rain.  But  so  heated 
were  the  lower  strata  of  the  atmosphere  by  ra- 
diation from  the  earth's  internal  fires  that  the 
rain,  before  it  could  reach  the  earth,  was  vapor- 
ized into  steam,  and  rose  again,  to  be  again 
condensed  aud  precipitated.  This  process  was 
continually  repeated  until  at  length  the  surface 
of  the  earth  gradually  became  sufficiently  cool, 
so  that  the  waters  could  remain  upon  it  without 
immediate  evaporation.  Then  the  rains  de- 
scended continually,  and  the  waters  accumu- 
lated and  spread  over  the  whole  globe  and 
formed  the  universal  ocean. 

'•  As  these  clouds  held  all  the  water  belonging 
to  oiu-  planet,  they  poured  forth  the  most  abun- 
dant rains,  which,  by  beating  upon  the  rocky 
smiace  and  by  the  wear  of  torrents,  produced 
vast  amounts  of  sediment,  which  were  spread 
over  the  bottom  of  the  accumulated  ocean. 
Chemical  reactions  also  took  place  in  these 
waters,  which  threw  down  sheets  of  sediments, 
which  mingled  with  those  of  mechanical  origin. 
These  sediments  were  the  material  from  which 
the  oldest  rocks  were  formed."  ^  "  According  to 
Hunt  and  Logan,  the  limestones  of  this  early 
period  could  have  had  no  other  than  a  chemical 
1  Pt-e-adamifes,  Wiiicliell,  p.  359. 


66  GENESIS   AND   MODEKN    SCIENCE. 

origin."  ^  "  The  cliemieal  reactions  and  precipi- 
tations and  sedimentary  accumulations  to  wliicli 
I  have  referred  extended  over  an  immense  in- 
terval of  time.  During  this  long  period  materials 
accumulated  at  the  bottom  of  the  sea  to  the 
thickness  of  twenty-five  thousand  feet.  Their 
geographical  extent  corresponded  with  that  of 
the  primeval  sea."  - 

It  was  a  time  of  profound  darkness.  There 
was  no  glimmer  of  light  throughout  that  long 
period  of  the  falling  waters. 

At  the  first  the  ocean  must  have  been  of  the 
temperature  of  boiling  water,  the  crust  being 
still  comparatively  thin  and  permeable  to  the 
inner  heat.  From  this  seething  caldron  dense 
vapors  of  steam  continually  ascended,  and  there 
seemed  to  be  an  incessant  struggle  between  the 
ocean  and  the  enshrouding  atmosphere.  The 
lower  portions  of  the  atmosphere,  probably  for 
the  height  of  miles,  were  a  mass  of  steam  or 
aqueous  vapor.  But  at  length  the  ocean  became 
cooler,  and  as  the  refrigeration  of  the  earth's 
crust  proceeded  and  evaporation  became  less 
and  less,  a  separation  began  between  the  waters 
of  the  ocean  and  the  watery  vapors  of  the  at- 
mosphere. The  ocean  no  longer  gave  off  its 
great  volumes  of  steam,  and  the  aqueous  masses 
in  suspense  in  the  air  began  to  rise  and  form  a 
canopy.     The  waters  were  parted  in  the  midst. 

^  SlrMics  of  Crmtion,  Wincliell,  p.  58. 
-  Ibid.,  p.  63. 


THE   SECOND   DAY.  67 

Waters  were  divided  from  waters.  There  were 
waters  above  the  firmameut  and  there  were 
waters  under  the  firmament — a  universal  ocean 
below  and  a  watery  atmosphere  above.  At  last 
the  clouds  and  fogs  of  the  skies  were  broken  by 
the  power  of  the  solar  rays  from  without,  and 
being  no  longer  fed  by  the  evaporation  of  the 
ocean  below,  were  dissipated  and  suddenly 
passed  away;  just  as  we  have  seen  a  fog,  so 
dense  as  to  render  invisible  even  objects  near 
at  hand,  vanish  under  the  power  of  the  sun. 
Now  for  the  first  time  the  sunlight  illumined 
the  terrestrial  globe.  Such  are  the  teachings  of 
science. 

By  way  of  exegesis  we  may  consider  the 
meaning  of  the  v^ordjirnianioit.  The  marginal 
reading  is  expanse.  To  expand  is  to  cause  the 
particles  of  a  substance  to  spread  themselves,  or 
stand  apart — a  word  admirably  fitted  to  express 
the  attenuation  of  the  atmosphere.  "Webster 
says  that  the  word  firmament  "in  Scripture 
denotes  an  expanse,  a  wide  extent ;  for  such  is 
the  signification  of  the  Hebrew  word  coinciding 
with  rer/ion  and  reaeh.  The  original,  therefore, 
does  not  convey  the  sense  of  solidity,  but  of 
stretching,^  extension;  the  great   arch  or  ex- 

^  In  Psalm  eiv.  2  is  a  heautifnl  poetic  reference  to 
God's  work  on  the  first  and  second  creative  days. 
"  Who  coverest  thj'self  with  lif/hf  as  with  a  garment: 
who  sfref chest  out  the  heavens  like  a  curtain."  Upon 
this  passage  Fausset  comments  that  the  use  of  the  word 


68  GENESIS  AND   MODEKN   SCIENCE. 

pause  over  our  heads,  in  which  are  placed  the 
atmosphere  and  the  clouds,  and  in  which  the 
stars  appear  to  be  placed  and  are  really  seen." 
In  verse  20  we  find  "  fowl "  referred  to  as  flying 
"in  the  open  firmament  of  heaven,"  or,  as  in 
the  margin,  "  on  the  face  of  the  expanse  of  the 
heaven."  Here,  it  is  evident,  the  air  or  atmos- 
phere is  referred  to.  We  must  therefore  con- 
clude that  verse  7  narrates  the  creation  of  the 
atmosphere  of  the  earth. 

"  And  the  evening  and  the  morning  were  the 
second  day." 

What  was  the  evening?  That  long  period  of 
darkness  which  prevailed  from  the  time  when 
the  enshrouded  earth  ceased  to  emit  light  from 
its  internal  fires,  all  through  the  formiug  of  the 
universal  ocean,  in  the  manner  above  described. 

What  was  the  morning!     The  passing  away 

Zi^^^  refers  to  the  first  work  of  creation,  and  that  the 
stretching  of  the  heavens  refers  to  the  visible  heavens 
or  sky,  which  covers  the  earth  like  a  curtain. 

•'  The  Hebrew  word  raJcia,  from  ral'ci,  used  by  Moses 
(and  which  our  translators,  by  following  the  firmamen- 
turn  of  the  Vulgate,  which  is  a  translation  of  the 
stereoma  of  the  Septuagiut,  have  improperly  rendered 
firmament),  signifies  to  spread  out  as  tlie  curtains  of  a 
tent  or  paviHon.  It  corresponds  with  those  beautiful 
words  of  Isaiah,  '  It  is  he  that  stretcheth  out  the  heav- 
ens as  a  curtain,  and  spreadeth  them  out  as  a  tent  to 
dwell  in "  ( The  Mosaic  History  of  the  Creation  of  the 
World,  Wood,  p.  95). 


THE   SECOND   DAY.  69 

of  the  vapors  which  had  so  long  exckided  the 
rays  of  the  sun,  and  the  flooding  of  the  terres- 
trial globe  with  the  bright  sunlight  of  heaven. 

This  darkness  and  this  light,  one  alternation, 
constituted  the  "  second  day." 

How  long  was  the  "  second  day"  ?  We  have 
no  means  of  calculation,  but  doubtless  it  was  of 
comparatively  less  duration  than  the  "first  day." 
Yet  the  refrigeration  of  the  earth  from  a  par- 
tially gaseous  condition  until  it  was  inclosed  by 
a  crust  sufficiently  cool  and  firm  to  support  a 
universal  ocean  must  have  required  a  vast  peri- 
od. In  the  hundreds  of  centuries  since  the  "  sec- 
ond day  "  the  crust  of  the  earth  has  continued 
to  cool  and  thicken,  yet  so  slow  has  been  the 
refrigeration  that  now  at  the  depth  of  only  8,100 
feet  we  find  the  temperature  of  boiling  water, 
and  at  the  depth  of  two  miles  below  the  surface 
of  the  earth  water  would  entirely  vaporize. 
When  we  consider,  moreover,  the  enormous 
volume  of  the  ocean,  and  remember  that  its 
waters  were  all  in  the  form  of  aqueous  vapor 
held  in  suspense  in  the  atmosphere,  we  have 
another  proof  of  the  immense  duration  of  the 
"  second  day."  The  present  expanse  of  the  ocean 
upon  the  globe  is  l-4-4-,500,000  square  miles.  The 
depth  varies  from  1,000  feet  or  less  to  50,000 
feet,  the  mean  depth  being  from  15,000  to  20,000 
feet.  The  mean  height  of  the  continents  is  but 
1,000  feet.  To  fill  the  ocean  to  a  mean  depth  of 
15,000  feet  with  earth  would  require  forty  times 


70  GENESIS   AND   MODERN    SCIENCE. 

the  quantity  of  all  the  dry  land  now  above  the 
aea-liivel. 

This  forming  and  purifying  of  the  terrestrial 
atmosphere  was  a  most  important  preparation 
for  the  subsequent  occupation  of  the  earth  by 
living  beings,  and  as  necessary  for  vegetable  as 
for  animal  life.  The  atmosphere  of  the  earth 
possesses  wonderful  properties,  and  has  a  great 
variety  of  important  uses  besides  the  more  ob- 
vious service  it  performs  in  the  vital  function 
of  respiration.  It  is  material  and  ponderable. 
It  has  height  and  color  and  elasticity.  It  exerts 
a  constant  pressure  of  5,835,425,000  tons  upon 
the  earth,  and  yet  is  so  light  and  fluent  that  it 
yields  to  the  least  vibration  of  the  wings  of  the 
most  minute  insect.  It  is  the  great  reservoir 
of  solar  heat,  and  tempers  and  retains  the  rays 
of  the  sun.  It  holds  the  light  of  departing  day 
and  graduates  the  brilliancy  of  the  dawning 
light,  so  adapting  the  Hglit  and  darkness  to  our 
comfort.  It  is  the  medium  of  sound,  and  with- 
out it  all  the  delights  of  music  and  the  greater 
delights  of  human  speech  would  be  impossible. 
It  contains  the  mysterious  mechanism  of  the 
weather.  It  receives  into  its  capacious  store- 
houses the  immense  volumes  of  vapor  which 
water  the  earth  with  fruitful  rains,  and  through 
its  broad  expanse  the  winds  bear  the  vapors  thus 
treasured  up  from  the  ocean  and  carry  them 
over  the  earth.  Mighty  currents  traverse  its 
vast  areas,  and  fierce  tempests  sweep  through 


THE   SECOND   DAY.  71 

its  wide  domains.  And  so,  whether  feeding  life 
or  embracing  the  earth  in  its  gentle  yet  gigantic 
grasp,  or  manifesting  its  own  mighty  forces  in 
the  spaces  above,  it  affords  a  continual  exhibi- 
tion of  the  power  and  wisdom  and  goodness  of 
God. 

It  seems  scarcely  possible,  as  we  look  up  into 
its  clear  blue  depths,  to  believe  that  it  is  a  watery 
mass ;  and  yet  even  in  this  last  period  of  earth- 
history,  when  it  has  been  made  pure  and  suited 
to  animal  existence,  the  average  quantity  of 
aqueous  vapor  or  water  held  in  the  air  is  esti- 
mated at  54,460,000,000,000  tons— a  quantity 
sufficient,  if  precipitated  at  once,  to  cover  the 
continents  of  Europe,  Asia,  Africa,  North 
America,  and  South  America  to  the  depth  of 
three  feet.  Does  not  this  verify  tlie  sacred  rec- 
ord that  God  "  divided  the  waters  which  were 
under  the  firmament  from  the  waters  which 
were  above  the  firmament "  I  And  yet  the  atmos- 
phere of  to-day  is  dry  as  compared  with  the 
vaporous  atmosphere  which  he  separated  on  that 
second  day.  Even  as  late  in  the  history  of  the 
earth  as  the  Carljoniferous  age  the  atmosphere 
was  characterized  by  great  humidity. 

What  the  earth  would  be  without  an  atmos- 
j)liere  is  exemplified  for  us  by  the  present  con- 
dition of  the  moon,  which  has  "an  atmosphere 
two  thousand  times  rarer  than  that  of  the  earth. 
It  can  scarcely  be  regarded  as  an  atmosphere  at 
all.     The  contents  of  an  air-pump  receiver  can 


72  GENESIS   AND    MODERN    SCIENCE. 

seldom  be  rarefied  to .  a  greater  extent  than 
about  T(H)"o  of  tie  density  of  air  at  the  eartli's 
surface  with  the  best  of  pneumatic  machines, 
and  the  lunar  atmosj)here,  if  it  exists  at  all,  is 
thus  proved  to  be  twice  as  attenuated  as  what 
we  are  accustomed  to  recognize  as  a  vacuum."  ^ 
The  lowest  forms  of  vitality  cannot  exist  with- 
out air,  moisture,  and  a  moderate  range  of  tem- 
perature. For  the  lack  of  these  the  moon  is  a 
lifeless  world. 

"  Dawn,  as  we  have  it  upon  the  earth,  can 
have  no  counterpart  upon  the  moon.  Xo  atmos- 
phere is  there  to  reflect  the  light  while  the 
luminary  is  yet  out  of  actual  sight.  From  the 
black  horizon  the  sun  suddenly  darts  his  bright, 
uninterrupted  beams  upon  the  mountain-tops, 
crowning  them  with  dazzling  brilliance  while 
their  flanks  and  valleys  are  yet  in  utter  dark- 
ness. There  is  no  blending  of  the  night  into 
day.  In  the  lunar  sunrise  there  is  none  of  that 
gilding  and  glowing  which  make  the  phenome- 
non on  earth  so  gorgeous.  Those  crimson  sky- 
tints  with  which  we  are  familiar  are  due  to 
the  absorption  of  certain  of  the  polychromous 
rays  of  light  by  our  own  atmosphere.  The  blue 
and  \'iolet  components  of  the  solar  beams  are 
intercepted  by  our  envelope  of  vapor,  and  only 
the  red  portions  are  free  to  pass ;  while  on  the 
moon,  as  there  is  no  atmosphere,  this  selective 
absorption  does  not  occur." 

^  The  Moon,  Nasmyth  and  Cai-penter,  p.  53. 


THE    SECOND    DAY.  73 

"  This  atmosphere  of  ours  is  the  most  influ- 
ential element  in  beautifying  our  terrestrial 
scenery.  We  are  accustomed  to  the  sun  with 
its  dazzling  brightness,  overpowering  though  it 
be,  subdued  and  softened  by  our  vaporous 
screen.  Upon  the  moon  there  is  no  such  modi- 
fication. The  sun's  intrinsic  brilliancy  is  undi- 
minished, its  apparent  distance  is  shortened, 
and  it  gleams  out  in  fierce  splendor — only  to  be 
realized,  and  then  imperfectly,  by  the  conception 
of  a  gigantic  electric  light  a  few  feet  from  the 
eye.  And  the  brightness  is  rendered  more 
striking  by  the  blackness  of  the  surrounding 
sky.  Since  there  is  no  atmosphere,  there  can 
be  no  skylight,  for  there  is  nothing  above  the 
lunar  world  to  diffuse  the  solar  beams,  not  a 
trace  of  that  moisture  which,  even  in  our  tropi- 
cal skies,  scatters  some  of  the  sun's  light  and 
gives  a  certain  degree  of  opacity  or  blueness, 
deep  though  it  be,  to  the  heavens  by  day.  Upon 
the  moon,  with  no  light-diffusing  vajjor,  the  sky 
must  be  as  dark  as,  or  even  darker  than,  that 
with  which  we  are  familiar  upon  the  finest  of 
moonless  nights,  and  the  blackness  prevails  in 
the  full  blaze  of  the  lunar  noonday  sun." 

"Without  an  atmosphere  there  cnn  be  no 
aerial  perspective  or  gradation  of  color  in  the 
laudscape.  The  shadows  have  an  awful  black- 
ness. Most  notable  among  the  effects  of  the 
absence  of  an  atmosphere  is  the  untempered 
heat  of  the  direct  solar  rays.    The  sun  pours 


74  GENESIS   AND   MODEEN    SCIENCE. 

down  his  beams  with  UDmitigated  ferocity  upon 
a  soil  never  sheltered  by  a  cloud  nor  cooled  by  a 
shower,  until  the  soil  is  heated  to  a  temperature 
equal  nearly  to  that  of  melting  lead." 

The  moon  is  a  region  of  silence.  "Even 
commotions  sufficient  to  crack  the  crust  of  the 
moon,  though  they  might  be  felt  by  the  vibra- 
tions of  the  ground,  would  not  manifest  them- 
selves audibly,  for  without  air  there  can  be  no 
connection  between  the  grating  or  cracking 
ground  and  the  nerves  of  hearing.  Dead  silence 
reigns  on  the  moon.  A  thousand  cannon  might 
be  fired,  but  no  sound  would  be  heard.  Lips 
might  quiver  and  tongues  essay  to  speak,  but 
they  could  not  break  the  utter  silence."  ^ 

But  the  earth  has  an  atmosphere,  and  so  is  a 
world  of  beauty  and  life.  "  The  heavens  declare 
the  glory  of  God;  and  the  firmament  showeth 
his  handywork."2  Is  not  this  work  good,  grand, 
glorious  ?  Did  not  G  od  regard  it  with  compla- 
cency and  satisfaction?  There  can  be  no  rea- 
sonable doubt  that  the  work  was  good  and  that 
it  pleased  God.  Yet  the  Scripture  record  does 
not  say  so.  The  work  of  every  creative  day, 
except  the  second,  is  expressly  stated  to  be 
good  in  the  sight  of  the  Creator.  On  the  first 
day,  "  God  saw  the  light,  that  it  was  good."  On 
the  third  day,  we  read  ttcice^  "  God  saw  that  it 
was  good";  once  when  the  dry  land  appeared 

1  The  Moon,  Nasmyth  aud  Carpenter,  cliap.  xiii. 

2  Ps.  xix.  1. 


THE   SECOND   DAY.  75 

and  the  waters  were  gathered  together  into  one 
jilaee,  and  again  when  verdure  clothed  the  earth. 
On  the  "fourth  day"  he  set  the  knninaries  in  the 
heavens  to  rnle  the  day  and  the  night,  "  and 
God  saw  that  it  was  good."  On  the  "fifth  day" 
he  created  the  moving  creature  and  the  winged 
fow],  "  and  God  saw  that  it  was  good."  On  the 
"sixth  day"  he  made  the  beasts  of  tlie  earth, 
"and  God  saw  tliat  it  was  good."  Was  there  no 
approval  of  the  firmament,  that  vast  work  of  the 
"second  day"  ?  Was  it  not  good,  like  all  his 
other  works  I  It  mnst  have  been.  It  was.  He 
gave  to  tlie  firmament  the  beautiful  name 
Heaven,  the  name  of  his  own  celestial  abode. 
In  the  last  verse  of  this  chapter  we  read,  "  God 
saw  everything  that  he  had  made,  and,  behold, 
it  was  very  good." 

This  phrase,  "  and  God  saw  that  it  was  good," 
must  be  of  great  importance  and  full  of  meaning, 
else  it  would  not  have  l)een  so  often  repeated. 
Its  omission  in  the  record  of  the  "second  day" 
seems  strange  and  inexplicable.  What  the 
omission  signifies  we  are  unable  to  say.  It  is 
of  importance,  however,  to  note  the  simple  fact 
that  there  is  this  omission. 

In  concluding  this  chapter  we  are  able  to 
afhrm  that  there  is  no  conflict  whatever,  but 
only  beautiful  and  perfect  harmony,  between 
science  and  Scripture  as  to  the  events  of  the 
"  second  day." 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE   THIKD   DAY. 

"  And  God  said,  Let  tlie  waters  under  the  heaven 
be  gathered  together  unto  one  place,  and  let  the  dry 
land  appear :  and  it  was  so. 

'^  And  God  called  the  dry  land  Earth ;  and  the 
gathering  together  of  the  waters  called  he  Seas : 
and  God  saw  that  it  was  good." 

In  the  geological  record  we  read  the  same 
history.  While  the  crust  of  the  earth  which 
had  been  formed  by  refrigeration  was  suffi- 
ciently firm  and  rigid  to  support  the  universal 
ocean,  the  inner  mass  by  further  cooling  was 
contracted  in  its  volume,  and  could  no  longer 
sustain  the  crust,  which  had  become  too  large 
for  it.  Precisely  as  when  an  apple  has  withered 
and  its  pulp  has  been  reduced  in  size  by  loss  of 
moisture,  the  skin,  which  at  first  exactly  fitted 
and  covered  it,  is  too  large  for  the  shrunk  volume 
and  consequently  forms  in  folds  and  wrinkles, 
so  the  crust  of  the  earth,  which  no  longer  fitted 

7G 


THE   THIRD   DAY.  77 

the  iuner  mass,  sank  in  and  formed  vast  folds 
and  wrinkles,  thus  breaking  the  previous  uni- 
formity of  the  surface.  The  immediate  conse- 
quence was  that  the  waters  of  the  universal 
ocean  filled  these  depressions  in  the  crust,  and 
the  highest  portions  of  the  ocean -bed  were 
drained  of  the  waters  and  appeared  above  the 
level  of  the  sea,  thus  forming  dry  land. 

There  is  great  beauty  and  a  scientific  exact- 
ness in  the  words,  "let  the  dry  land  appear.^'' 
It  was  not  then  created.  The  land  was  under 
the  water  everywhere,  but  none  of  it  had  ap- 
peared. Now  at  last  the  waters  retired  to  their 
appointed  place  and  thus  uncovered  the  highest 
parts  of  the  earth's  crust  so  that  they  appeared 
in  sight.  With  great  sublimity  the  psalmist 
sings  of  this  creative  work.  God  "laid  the 
foundations  of  the  earth,  that  it  should  not  be 
moved  forever.  Thou  coveredst  it  with  the 
deep  as  with  a  vesture ;  the  waters  stood  above 
the  mountains.  At  thy  rebuke  they  fled;  at 
the  voice  of  thy  thunder  they  hasted  away. 
The  mountains  rose,  the  valleys  sank  down 
unto  the  place  which  thou  hadst  founded  for 
them.  Thou  hast  set  a  bound  that  they  may 
not  pass  over ;  that  they  turn  not  again  to  cover 
the  earth."  ^  Dana,  speaking  of  the  whole  world, 
says  there  is  "little  doubt  that  the  existing 
places  of  the  deep  ocean  and  of  the  continents 
were  determined  even  in  the  first  formation  of 

^  Ps.  civ.  5-9,  Revised  Version,  marginal  reading. 


78  GENESIS  AND   MODEEN    SCIENCE. 

the  earth's  crust,  in  the  early  archrean  era,  and 
that  in  all  the  movements  tliat  have  since  oc- 
curred, the  oceans  and  continents  have  never 
changed  places."  ^ 

Geology  is  able  to  determine  which  portion 
of  the  earth's  crust  first  emerged  from  the  uni- 
versal ocean.  It  was  the  archi'ean  or  azoic - 
rocks  of  the  Laurentian  period.  "The  oldest 
sedimentary  rocks  anywhei'e  found  on  the  globe 
are  those  which  underlie  the  whole  of  Canada, 
New  Brunswick,  Newfoundland,  Labrador,  and 
the  country  nortli  of  Lake  Superior;  perhaps 
also  the  less  explored  regions  of  the  far  North- 
west toward  the  Arctic  Sea."^  "This  great 
northern  area  has  been  estimated  to  contain 
2,000,000  square  miles." ^  "The  thickness  of 
its  bed  is  estimated  by  Sir  William  Logan  at 
30,000  feet.  It  rises  to  hills  or  mountains  4,000 
feet  high,  and  in  the  deep  gorge  of  the  Saguenay 
River  forms  perpendicular  cliffs  of  1,500  feet."  ^ 

In  Euro^ie  the  arch^an  rocks  cover  the  most 
of  Sweden,  Norway,  Lapland,  Finland,  a  large 
part  of  the  northern  half  of  Scotland  and  the 

^  Genesis  and  Geohfjj/,  p.  73. 

2  Meaning  ''without  life." 

^  Encycloptedia  Britunnica  (ninth  edition),  article 
"  America." 

■*  Manual  of  Geohcjy,  Dana  (fourth  edition,  1895), 
p.  442. 

^  Encydopcedia  Britannka  (ninth  edition),  article 
''  America." 


^ORTH  POLe 


South  pout 
POSITION    OF   THE    EARTH    IN    THE   AZOIC   AGE. 


POSITION  OF  THE  EARTH  IN  THE  PALEOZOIC  AGE. 


THE   THIRD   DAY.  79 

Hebrides,  parts  of  western  Ireland,  the  west  of 
Wales,  the  south  and  west  of  England,  also  areas 
in  Fi-ance,  Saxony,  Bavaria,  and  Bohemia.^ 

Although  these  rocks  are  also  found  in  limited 
areas  in  the  northern  part  of  South  America, 
Brazil,  and  in  different  parts  of  the  Ajides,  yet 
it  will  Ije  observed  that  they  lie  principally  in 
the  northern  portions  of  the  north  temperate 
zone  and  in  the  north  frigid  zone,  as  we  now 
designate  those  divisions  of  the  earth's  surface. 
This  fact  is  of  very  great  significance  and  in- 
dicates that  at  this  juncture  a  very  remarkable 
phenomenon  appeared.     This  phenomenon  was 
none  other  than  an  entire  change  in  the  direc- 
tion of  the  earth's  axis  of  rotation.    Whereas  it 
previously  had  been  perpendicular  to  the  eclip- 
tic, it  then  became  coincident  with  the  ecliptic. 
This  is  the  second  element  in  my  theory.     I 
desire  to  develop  this  proposition  more  fully 
before  considering  its  consequences  or  review- 
ing the  geological  proofs  of  it. 

By  the  nebular  hypothesis  we  have  seen  that 
when  the  rings  of  nebulous  matter  became  de- 
tached, they  revolved  in  the  same  plane  as  the 
central  mass  and  upon  an  axis  coincident  with 
that  of  the  central  mass.  When  the  ring  broke 
and  formed  itself  into  a  compact  spheroidal 
body,  it  still  rotated,  as  before,  in  an  orbit 
about  the  central  mass,  but  upon  an  axis  of  its 

1  M.nuud  of  Geology,  Daua  (fourth  edition,  1895), 
p.  -^^^Q). 


80  GENESIS   AND   MODERN    SCIENCE. 

own.  This  axis,  however,  like  the  axis  of  the 
central  mass,  was  perpendicular  to  the  plane  of 
its  orbit. 

As  soon,  however,  as  there  was  a  change  in 
the  distribution  of  its  matter  and  in  the  density 
of  it,  there  must,  by  the  law  of  gravitation,  have 
been  a  change  in  its  center  of  gravity  fi'om  the 
original  geometric  center  of  the  mass  to  some 
point  more  or  less  distant  from  that  geometric 
center,  unless,  of  course,  the  changes  of  distri- 
bution and  of  density  were  equal  and  uniform 
in  every  direction  from  the  original  center, 
which,  though  possible,  is  entirely  improbable. 

This  is  so  obvious  that  an  argument  is  not 
required;  yet  so  fundamental  is  it  to  my  hy- 
pothesis that  I  desire  to  elucidate  it  by  simple 
illustrations. 

I  do  not  claim  that  the  mass  of  the  earth  was 
changed  as  to  quantity  or  weight,  but  that  the 
quantity  and  weight  were  changed  in  their  posi- 
tion in  respect  to  the  original  center  of  gravita- 
tion ;  or,  in  other  words,  I  claim  the  manifest 
fact  that  the  change  in  the  shape  of  the  enrtli 
from  a  regular  to  an  irregular  spheroid  changed 
its  center  of  gravity. 

For  example :  Let  AB  represent  a  lever  hav- 
ing its  fulci'um  upon  the  wedge  x.  Let  C  repre- 
sent a  weight  of  ten  pounds  suspended  upon 
the  lever  at  a  certain  distance  from  the  fulcrum, 
nnd  D  a  weight  of  ten  pounds  suspended  upon 
the  lever  at  the  same  distance  from  the  fulcrum 


THE   THIED   DAY.  81 

upon  the  opposite  end.  The  lever  then  supports 
a  weight  of  twenty  pounds ;  but  as  the  weights 
C,  D  are  equal  and  are  placed  at  the  same 
distance  from  the  geometric  center  x,  they  bal- 
ance each  other  and 

the  center  of  gravity     n  -J 

is  on  the  point  of  x.     ^  /\  0 

But  let  us  now  change 

the  relative  position  of  the  weights  C,  D,  by  plac- 
ing the  weight  C  nearer  the  fulcrum  and  the 
weight  D  farther  from  the  fulcrum.  Although 
the  lever  AB  sustains  precisely  the  same  weight 

(twenty  pounds),  the 
center  of  gravity  is 
changed,  because  the 
weights  C,  D  are  now 
differently  arranged 
and  the  weight  D  falls 
to  a  lower  plane  than  that  of  the  weight  C. 

In  this  illustration,  however,  I  have  used  a 
fixed  point  or  fulcrum,  .r,  on  which  the  lever  and 
Its  weights  are  supported.  The  earth  is  not 
thus  hung  upon  a  fixed  point.  God  "hangeth 
the  earth  upon  nothing."  ^  This  was  the  declara- 
tion of  Job  in  the  oldest  book  of  the  Bible,  al- 
though the  statement  was  contrary  to  all  human 
philosophy  for  many  a  century  after  it  was 
written.  We  know  now  that  the  earth  is  sus- 
pended freely  in  space  and  is  confined  to  its 
orbit  by  the  combination  of  the  centrifugal  and 
^  Job  xxvi.  7. 


82  GENESIS   AND   MODEllX    SCIENX'E. 

centripetal  forces  which  impel  it.  An  illustra- 
tion more  analogous  may  be  found  in  observing 
the  action  of  gravitation  upon  a  body  falling 
freely  in  space.  A  perfect  sphere  of  equal 
density  throughout  would  not,  however,  in  fall- 
ing, turn  in  any  direction,  because  its  mass  is 
equally  distributed  about  its  geometric  center. 
But  a  solid  body,  irregularly  distributed  in  its 
mass  about  its  geometric  center,  will,  in  falling 
freely  in  space,  come  into  such  a  position  that 
its  heavier  side  will  be  toward  the  earth.  There 
are  more  atoms  on  that  side  to  be  acted  upon 
by  gravitation.  If  a  boy  shoots  his  arrow  up- 
ward it  ascends  with  its  head  or  knob  foremost, 
but  as  soon  as  the  force  of  gravitation  has  over- 
come the  propelling  force  given  by  the  bow,  the 
arrow  describes  a  turn  in  mid-air  and  falls  to 
the  ground  with  its  head  or  knob  downward. 
If  an  aeronaut,  leaving  the  basket  which  hangs 
vertically  suspended  from  the  balloon,  clambers 
up  into  the  netting  half-way  to  the  top  of  the 
balloon,  his  weight  will  bring  the  side  to  which 
lie  is  clinging  down  toward  the  earth ;  and  yet 
at  the  same  time  the  balloon  will  keep  steadily 
on  in  its  course,  drifting  with  the  air-current  in 
which  it  floats,  and  by  its  buoyancy  overcoming 
the  power  of  gravitation  which  seeks  to  draw  it 
bodily  downward.  In  this  illustration  it  will 
be  noticed  that,  while  gravity  does  not  overcome 
the  lifting  power  of  the  gas  contained  in  the 
bag,  the  bag  itself  is  turned,  because  the  weight 


THE   THIRD   DAY.  83 

which  it  is  carrying  is  changed  in  the  relative 
position  thereon. 

A  very  satisfactory  demonstration  of  this 
action  of  gravitation  npon  a  globe  whose  density 
is  unequal  in  different  parts  is  afforded  by  a  com- 
mon toy  balloon,  which  consists  of  a  thin  rubber 
bag  distended  by  air  or  gas,  and  having  a  neck 
closed  by  a  string  tightly  drawn  and  tied.  This 
neck,  extending  from  one  side  of  the  balloon, 
makes  it  heavier  on  that  side,  and  whether 
liberated  with  the  neck  projecting  vertically 
upward,  or  horizontally,  or  in  any  angular 
direction,  it  will  turn  itself  in  mid-air  until 
the  protuberance  extends  vertically  down- 
ward. 

Another  illustration  may  be  drawn  from  the 
movement  of  comets  in  the  heavens.  A  comet 
advances  rapidly  in  an  orbit  of  great  eccentric- 
ity, but  its  heavier  portion,  that  is,  its  nucleus 
or  head,  is  always  directed  toward  the  sun,  so 
that  the  comet  approaches  the  sun  head  fore- 
most and  retreats  from  it  tail  foremost.  In 
this  case  the  element  of  orbital  velocity  does 
not  overcome  the  force  of  gravitation. 

Substantially  the  same  thought  was  elabo- 
rated and  clearly  stated  by  Dr.  C.  F.  Winslow 
in  his  little  book  called  The  Cooling  Globe,  pub- 
lished in  1865,  which  came  to  my  attention  for 
the  first  time  long  after  the  preparation  of  the 
manuscript  of  this  volume.     He  says : 

"Any  homogeneous   and  perfect  sphere — a 


84  GENESIS  AND   MODEEN   SCIENCE. 

marble,  for  instance — will  fall  from  a  state  of 
rest  in  a  vacumn  withont  rotating  or  changing 
its  position.  But  change  the  form  of  that  body 
to  a  spheroid,  or  project  mountains  or  sink  de- 
pressions on  various  parts  of  its  surface,  it  will 
change  positions,  partially  rotating,  and  fall 
with  its  longest  diameter  or  major  axis  toward 
the  earth.  .  .  .  This  planet  (discarding  rotation) 
is  only  a  marble  of  enormous  dimensions  and 
heterogeneous  nature,  falling,  in  a  vacuum,  to 
the  sun.  Whatever  may  have  been  the  cause 
of  its  primitive  irregularity  of  form,  the  slight- 
est preponderance  of  matter  at  one  point  of  its 
surface  or  another  will  necessarily  alter  the  re- 
lations of  its  poles  to  the  plane  of  the  ecliptic. 
The  diameter  of  the  globe  at  the  equator  is 
twenty-six  miles  greater  than  at  the  poles,  and 
the  inclination  of  its  axis  to  the  plane  of  the 
ecliptic  is  adjusted  by  laws  of  gravitation  so 
fixed  that  it  can  never  alter  unless  the  relative 
amount  of  matter  in  the  hemispheres  be  dis- 
turbed. Should  this  disturbance  ever  occur, 
from  any  cause  whatever,  or  in  any  manner,  the 
axial  inclination  must  shift,  either  suddenly  or 
slowly,  according  to  the  agency  operating  to 
produce  disturbance  of  equilibrium.  .  .  .  Such 
consequences  would  naturally  follow  the  slow 
elevation  or  submergence  of  continents." 

"  Gravitation  is  admitted  by  all  astronomers 
and  physicists  as  an  estal)lished  fact  and  uni- 
versal law,  and  is  beyond  discussion.    It  controls 


THE   THIRD   DAY.  85 

the  i^osition  of  all  bodies  upon  and  suspended 
around  tliis  planet  and  establishes  their  equilib- 
rium according  to  the  major  amounts  of  matter 
in  their  different  diametei-s,  the  major  diameter 
always  tending  toward  its  center.  .  .  .  Bodies, 
whatever  their  form,  size,  or  weiglit,  when  sus- 
pended and  free  to  move  in  all  directions  and 
settle  into  equilibrium,  will  finally  assume  that 
position  toward  the  center  of  the  earth  which 
coincides  with  the  greatest  number  of  particles, 
or,  in  other  words,  Avith  the  greatest  density  or 
weight  of  that  diameter  which  is  immediately 
perpendicular  to  the  surface  and  in  a  line  with 
the  radius  between  it  and  the  earth's  center."  ^ 

In  the  light  of  these  statements  and  illustra- 
tions, let  us  study  what  effect  the  protrusion  of 
the  Laurentian  rocks  on  the  north  side  of  the 
earth  must  have  caused  in  the  relative  position 
of  the  earth  toward  the  sun.  Such  protrusion 
would  not  only  give  to  that  side  of  the  earth  an 
increased  leverage,  so  to  speak,  but  another 
result  would  follow  such  an  elevation  of  that 
portion  of  the  earth's  crust.  This  change  of  the 
center  of  gravity  would  change  the  level  of  the 
sea  over  the  whole  globe.  In  my  second  illus- 
tration I  supposed  that  one  of  the  weights  upon 
the  lever  was  placed  farther  from  the  fulcrum, 
while  the  other  weight  was  placed  nearer  the 
fulcrum.  Precisely  so  would  it  be  with  refer- 
ence to  the  waters  of  the  sea.     There  would  be 

1  The  Cooling  Globe,  pp.  14,  15,  38. 


86  GENESIS   AND   MODERN   SCIENCE. 

an  actual  re-adjustment  of  the  volume  of  the 
ocean  with  reference  to  the  new  center  of 
gravity,  and  that  re-adjustment  would  be  an  ac- 
tual transference  of  a  vast  volume  of  sea-water 
from  the  southern  to  the  northern  hemisphere, 
thus  still  further  aiding  the  gravitation  of  that 
side  of  the  earth  toward  the  sun.  Let  us  en- 
deavor to  compute  this  added  weight,  while  we 
prove  by  sufficient  authority  the  truth  of  the 
proposition  itself. 

The  French  mathematician,  Alphonse  Joseph 
Adhemar,^  has  accounted  for  the  nutation  of 
the  poles  by  reference  to  a  change  in  the  center 
of  the  earth's  gravity,  occasioned  by  the  vast 
accumulation  of  ice  and  snow  in  the  polar 
regions  in  alternate  periods  of  ten  thousand  five 
hundred  years.  In  this  conclusion  he  has  been 
followed  by  many  eminent  scholars.  So  sensi- 
tive is  the  earth  to  the  force  of  gravitation  that 
(as  it  seems  from  this  authority)  the  preponder- 
ance of  ice  at  one  pole  over  that  of  the  other 
swings  the  mighty  mass  of  the  earth  and  deflects 
its  polar  direction.  And  not  only  so,  but  we 
are  assured  that  "  the  enormous  accumulation 
of  ice  at  one  pole  during  the  maximum  of  eccen- 
tricity will  displace  the  center  of  gravity  so  as 
to  raise  the  level  of  the  ocean  in  the  glacial 
hemisphere."  -     Dana  says :  "  Were  the  ice  of  a 

1  Revolutions  de  la  Mer  (1840). 

~  Ennjdopa'dia  Bv'dannica  (ninth  edition),  article 
"  Geology,"  by  A.  Geikie. 


THE   THIRD   DAY.  87 

glacial  epoch  to  be  accumulated  about  the  poles 
and  thus  make  a  polar  ice-cap  or  meniscus 
thousands  of  feet  high,  the  ocean-level  would 
be  changed  through  all  latitudes  to  the  equa- 
tor." 1 

"  Dr.  Croll  has  estimated  that  if  the  present 
mass  of  ice  in  the  southern  hemisphere  is  taken 
at  1,000  feet,  extending  down  to  latitude  60°,  the 
transference  of  this  mass  to  the  northern  hemi- 
sphere would  raise  the  level  of  the  sea  80  feet 
at  the  north  pole.  Other  methods  of  calculation 
give  different  results.  Mr.  Heath  puts  the  rise 
at  128  feet,  Archdeacon  Pratt  makes  it  more, 
while  the  Rev.  0.  Fisher  gives  it  at  409  feet. 
More  recently,  in  returning  to  the  question.  Dr. 
Croll  remarks  that  tlie  removal  of  2  miles  of 
ice  from  the  Antarctic  continent  (and  at  present 
the  mass  of  ice  there  is  thicker  than  that)  would 
displace  the  center  of  gravity  190  feet,  and  the 
formation  of  a  mass  of.  ice  equal  to  one-half  of 
this  in  the  Arctic  regions  would  carry  the  center 
of  gravity  95  feet  farther,  giving  in  all  a  displace- 
ment of  285  feet."  2 

In  his  book  Cl'miate  and  Time  ^  Dr.  Croll  clearly 
demonstrates  how  this  change  in  the  center  of 
gravity  is  effected.  He  says :  "  In  order  to  pre- 
sent the  question  in  its  most  simple  form,  I  shall 

1  Manual  of  Geology  (fourth  edition,  1895),  p.  34G. 

-  Encyclopiulia  Britannka  (ninth  edition),  article 
"  Geology." 

2  Page  368  et  seq. 


88  GENESIS   AND   MODERN   SCIENCE. 

assume  an  ice-eap  of  a  given  thickness  at  the 
pole,  and  gradually  diminishing  in  thickness 
toward  the  equator  in  the  simple  proportion  of 
the  sines  of  the  latitudes,  where  at  the  equator 
its  thickness,  of  course,  is  zero.  Let  us  assume, 
what  is  actually  the  case,  that  the  equatorial 
diameter  of  the  globe  is  somewhat  greater  than 
the  polar,  but  that  when  the  ice-cap  is  placed  on 
one  hemisphere  the  whole  forms  a  perfect 
sphere. 

"  I  shall  begin  with  a  period  of  glaciation  on 
the  southern  hemisphere.  Let  WNES'  be  the 
solid  part  of  the  earth,  and  c 
its  center  of  gravity ;  and  let 
ESW  be  an  ice-cap  covering 
the  southern  hemisphere.  Let 
us,  in  the  first  i^lace,  assume 
the  earth  to  be  of  the  same 
density  as  the  cap.  The  earth 
and  its  cap  now  form  a  per- 
fect sphere  with  its  center  of  gravity  at  o,  for 
WNES  is  a  circle,  and  o  is  its  center.  Suppose, 
now,  the  whole  to  be  covered  with  an  ocean  a 
few  miles  deep,  the  ocean  will  assume  the  spheri- 
cal form  and  will  be  of  uniform  depth.  Let  the 
southern  winter  solstice  begin  now  to  move 
around  from  the  aphelion.  The  ice-cap  will  also 
commence  gradually  to  diminish  in  thickness, 
and  another  cap  will  begin  to  make  its  appear- 
ance on  the  northern  hemisphere.  As  the  north- 
ern  cap  may  be   supposed,  for   simplicity  of 


THE   THIED   DAY.  89 

calculation,  to  increase  at  the  same  rate  that  the 
southern  will  diminish,  the  spherical  form  of  the 
earth  will  always  be  maintained.  By  the  time 
that  the  northern  cap  has  reached  a  maximum 
the  southern  cap  will  have  completely  disap- 
peared. The  circle  WN'ES'  will  now  represent 
the  earth  with  its  cap  on  the  northern  hemi- 
sphere, and  o'  will  be  its  center  of  gravity,  for 
o'  is  the  center  of  the  circle  WN'ES'.  And  as 
the  distance  between  the  centers  o,  o'  is  equal  to 
NN',  the  thickness  of  the  cap  at  the  pole,  NN' 
will  therefore  represent  the  extent  to  which  the 
center  of  gravity  has  l)een  displaced.  It  will 
also  represent  the  extent  to  which  the  ocean  has 
risen  at  the  north  pole  and  sunk  at  the  south. 
This  is  evident,  for,  as  the  sphere  WN'ES'  in  all 
respects  is  as  the  sphere  WNES,  with  the  ex- 
ception only  that  the  cap  is  on  the  opi:)osite  side, 
the  surface  of  the  ocean  at  the  poles  will  now  be 
at  the  same  distance  from  the  center  o'  as  it  was 
from  the  center  o  when  the  cap  covered  the 
southern  hemisphere.  Hence  the  distance  be- 
tween 0  and  o'  must  be  equal  to  the  extent  of 
the  submergence  at  the  north  pole  and  the 
emergence  at  the  south." 

He  next  considers  the  result  when  the  earth 
and  ice  are  taken  at  their  actual  densities,  re- 
spectivel}'  5.5  and  .92.  Then  he  computes  the 
result  if  the  ice-cap,  instead  of  reaching  to  the 
equator,  reaches  down  to  latitude  55°,  and  finds 
that,  as  its  center  of  gravity  is  much  farther  re- 


90  GENESIS   AND   MODEKN    SCIENCE. 

moved  from  tlie  eartli's  center  of  gravity  than  it 
was  when  it  extended  down  to  the  equator,  it 
possesses  in  proportion  to  its  mass  a  mnch 
greater  power  in  displacing  the  earth's  center  of 
gravity.  He  proceeds  to  discuss  the  fact  that 
the  ocean  will  adjust  itself,  not  in  relation  to  the 
center  of  gravity  of  the  solid  mass  alone,  but  in 
relation  to  the  common  center  of  gravity  of  the 
entire  mass,  solid  and  liquid ;  and  concludes  that 
the  water  which  is  pulled  over  from  one  hemi- 
sphere to  the  other  by  the  attraction  of  the  cap 
will  also  aid  in  displacing  the  center  of  gravity 
and  will  co-operate  with  the  cap  and  carry  the 
true  center  of  gravity  to  a  point  beyond  that  of 
the  center  of  gravity  of  the  earth  and  cap,  and 
thus  increase  the  effect. 

Now,  supposing  that  the  immense  mass  of 
the  Laurentian  rocks  (which  have  the  vast  area 
already  described  and  are  of  the  thickness  of 
30,000  feet,  that  is,  nearly  6  miles)  was  thrust 
outwardly  to  a  height  varying  from  1,500  to  4,000 
feet  from  a  sphere  or  spheroid  otherwise  perfect 
and  regular  in  shape,  and  bearing  in  mind  the 
great  difference  between  the  specific  gravity  of 
rock  and  ice,  we  can  see  that  it  would  be  a  very 
moderate  estimate  that  such  a  protrusion  would 
displace  the  earth's  center  of  gravity  to  the  ex- 
tent of  300  feet.  On  this  basis  it  is  easily  com- 
puted that  there  would  be  transferred  from  the 
southern  to  the  northern  hemisphere,  by  this 
change,  a  volume  of  water  the  weight  of  which 


THE   TIimD   DAY.  91 

would  exceed  13,000,000,000,000,000  tons;  and 
as  so  much  would  be  lost  to  tlie  southern  hemi- 
sphere and  added  to  the  nortliern,  the  difference 
in  the  weight  of  the  two  hemispheres,  by  reason 
of  this  transference,  would  be  26,000,000,000,- 
000,000  tons,  which,  added  to  the  increased 
leverage  of  the  protruding  parts  of  the  earth  on 
that  side,  would  instantly  cause  the  earth  to  turn 
its  northern  side  to  the  sun. 

Now  if,  as  geology  proves,  the  northern  side 
of  the  earth  protruded  at  this  juncture,  and,  by 
the  consequent  increase  of  leverage  and  the 
enormous  increase  of  weight  over  that  of  the 
southern  hemispliere  by  reason  of  the  change  of 
the  sea-level,  as  described,  gravitated  on  that 
side  toward  the  sun,  a  result  of  startling  signif- 
icance in  this  discussion  was  effected,  being  no 
less  than  an  entire  change  in  the  direction  of  the 
earth's  axis  of  rotation.  I  do  not  claim  that  the 
earth's  axis  itself  changed  its  position  in  relation 
to  the  earth's  mass  (although  such  a  claim  could 
rest  upon  eminent  authority),^  but  I  claim  sim- 

1  "  Sir  William  Thomson  and  George  Darwin  admit 
as  liiglily  probable  that  the  axis  may  have  shifted  its 
position,  owing  to  deformations  in  the  earth's  shape  by 
the  elevation  of  portions  of  its  enist,  and  that  in  this 
manner  the  pole  may  have  wandered  10c>  or  15'=>  from 
its  primitive  place,  or  possibly  so  far  away  as  20°,  30°, 
or  even  40°.  .  .  .  That  the  axis  of  the  earth's  rotation 
has  snccessively  shifted,  and  consequently  that  the 
poles  have  wandered  to  dilf erent  points  of  the  surface 


92  GENESIS   AND    MODERN    SCIENCE. 

ply  tliat  the  direction  of  the  axis  changed  in  re- 
lation to  the  plane  of  the  earth's  orbit,  so  that 
the  axis,  instead  of  being  perpendicular  to  the 
ecliptic,  as  at  first,  became  coincident  with  the 
ecliptic. 

of  the  globe,  has  been  maiutained  by  geologists  as  the 
only  possible  explanation  of  cei'tain  remarkable  con- 
ditions of  climate  which  can  be  proved  to  have  for- 
merly obtained  within  the  Arctic  circle.  ...  A  wide- 
spread npheaval  or  depression  of  certain  portions  of 
the  surface  to  a  considerable  vertical  amount  might 
shift  the  axis.  .  .  .  Sir  William  Thomson  freely  con- 
cedes the  physical  possibility  of  such  changes.  ^  We 
may  not  merely  admit/  he  saj'S,  '  but  assert  as  highly 
probable,  that  the  axis  of  maximum  inertia  and  the 
axis  of  rotation,  always  very  near  each  other,  may 
have  been  in  ancient  times  very  far  from  their  present 
geographical  position,  and  may  have  gradually  shifted 
through  10,  20,  30,  40,  or  more  degrees.'  .  .  .  Though 
no  known  geological  operation  seems  to  have  been 
capable  of  producing  an  effective  change  in  the  posi- 
ti(m  of  the  axis  of  rotation,  there  may  have  been 
variations  in  the  position  of  its  center  of  gravity" 
{EncycIojKedia  Britannica  [ninth  edition],  article  "  Ge- 
ology "). 

My  theory  would  be  as  well  satisfied  by  a  change  in 
the  position  of  the  earth's  axis  as  by  a  change  in  its 
direction.  A  chauge  in  the  position  of  the  earth's  axis 
does  not,  however,  seem  probable  to  me.  The  equa- 
torial diameter  of  the  earth  exceeds  the  polar  diameter 
by  2G  miles.  The  equatorial  velocity  of  the  eai-tli's 
rotation  is  1,040  miles  per  hour.     I  think  that  the 


THE   THIED   DAY.  93 

"What  consequences  would  result  from  such  a 
change  in  the  direction  of  the  earth's  axis? 
There  could  no  longer  be  any  alternation  of 
darkness  and  light.  The  northern  hemisphere, 
always  turned  toward  the  sun,^  would  have  one 
unending  day,  and  the  southern  hemisphere, 
always  turned  away  from  the  sun,  would  have 
one  unending  night.-     Neither  could  there  have 

momentum  of  the  rotation  of  such  a  spheroid,  moving 
at  sneh  a  rate,  would  be  so  great  as  to  prevent  any 
shifting  of  the  axis  from  one  place  to  another,  althongh 
it  would  not  prevent  a  change  in  the  polar  direction. 
Maedler  {FopnJare  Astronomie,  p.  370)  combats  the 
theory  of  a  change  in  the  position  of  the  earth's  axis, 
and  states  that,  according  to  the  calculations  of  Bessel, 
the  bodily  plucking  up  of  114  cubic  miles  of  the 
Himalaya  Mountains  and  the  transfer  of  them  to 
North  America  would  change  the  position  of  the 
earth's  axis  less  than  100  feet.  But  if  it  is  true  math- 
ematically that  such  transference  of  only  114  cubic 
miles  could  shift  the  earth's  axis  about  100  feet,  is  it 
not  at  least  possible  that  the  lifting  in  mass  to  a  height 
of  from  1,500  to  4,000  feet  of  1,704,000  cubic  miles  of 
the  Lauren tian  rocks  from  a  spheroid  otherwise  regu- 
lar in  shape  might  have  displaced  the  earth's  center  of 
gravity  300  feet  ? 

^  I  do  not  forget  the  present  parallelism  of  the  earth's 
axis,  but  Avill  discuss  it  later. 

-  "By  the  earth's  rotation  the  several  portions  of 
the  surface  have  each  their  turn  of  light  and  of  dark- 
ness. This  happens  because  the  position  of  the  earth 
is  such  that  the  equator  is,  on  the  whole,  presented 


94  GENESIS   AND   MODERN    SCIENCE. 

been  any  alterncation  of  seasons.  The  northern 
hemisphere  wonld  always  have  an  even,  warm 
temperature,  with  its  torrid  chmate  chiefly  in 
the  polar  regions,  while  the  southern  hemisphere 
would  have  perpetual  cold  as  well  as  perpetual 
darkness. 

In  the  succeeding  chapters  will  he  presented 
the  geological  and  other  proofs  relating  to  this 
part  of  the  subject.  A  still  further  illustration 
of  the  present  hypothesis  is  found  by  a  reference 
to  the  position  of  the  moon  in  its  relation  to  the 
earth,  which  is  strikingly  analogous  to  what 
seems  to  have  been  the  position  of  the  earth  in 
relation  to  the  sun  on  "  the  third  day." 

The  same  side  of  the  moon  is  always  presented 
to  the  earth.  No  man  has  ever  seen  the  other 
side  of  the  moon.  If  the  satellite's  rotation  in 
its  orbit  were  uniform  we  should  always  see 
exactly  the  same  portion  of  its  surface,  but  as 
this  is  not  the  case,  there  are  two  small  strips 
of  surface  running  from  pole  to  pole  on  the  east 
and  west  sides  which  alternately  become  visible. 
This  oscillation  is  called  the  moon's  longitudinal 
libration.  The  libration  in  latitude  arises  from 
the  moon's  axis  not  being  perpendicular  to  its 
orbit,  in  consequence  of  which  a  portion  of  its 
surface  around  the  north  pole  is  visible  during 

toward  the  sim  ;  had  either  pole  been  toward  the  sun, 
that  hemisphere  would  have  revolved  in  continual 
light,  the  other  in  continual  darkness"  {Cliamhers's 
Encyclopedia^  article  ''  Day  ")• 


THE   THIKD   DAY.  95 

one-half,  and  a  corresponding  portion  around 
the  south  pole  during  the  other  half  of  itsrevo- 
hition  in  its  orbit.^  By  reason  of  these  librations 
we  actually  have  seen  about  four-sevenths  of 
the  moon's  surface.  As  the  moon  continually 
has  this  side  toward  the  earth,  so  the  earth  con- 
tinually had  its  northern  side  toward  the  sun 
duriijg  the  period  called  "  the  third  day,"  but 
with  this  difference :  that  the  moon  presents  its 
equator,  whereas  the  earth  presented  its  north 
pole. 

The  moon  is  not  perfectly  spherical,  but  is 
bulged  toward  the  earth.- 

"  The  form  of  the  lunar  disk,  when  fully  illu- 
minated, we  perceive  to  be  a  perfect  circle ;  that 
is  to  say,  the  measured  diameters  in  all  direc- 
tions are  equal.  We  know  that  the  earth  and 
the  rest  of  the  j^lanets  of  our  system  are  sphe- 
roidal, or  more  or  less  flattened  at  the  poles; 
and  we  know  that  this  flattening  is  a  conse- 
quence of  axial  rotation,  the  extent  of  the  flat- 
tening, or  the  oblateness  of  the  spheroid, 
depending  upon  the  speed  of  that  rotation.  But 
ill  the  case  of  the  moon  the  axial  rotation  is  so 
slow  that  the  flattening  produced  thereby,  al- 
though it  must  exist,  is  so  slight  as  to  be  imper- 
ceptible to  our  observation.  We  might  therefore 
conclude  that  the  moon  is  a  perfectlj"  spherical 
body,  did  not  theory  step  in  to  show  us  that 

^  Chattihers^s  Encyclopedia,  article  '■  Libratiou." 
-  The  Moon,  Nasmyth  and  Carpenter,  p.  xii. 


96  GENESIS   AND   MODERN    SCIENCE. 

there  is  another  cause  by  which  its  form  is  dis- 
turbed. Assuming  the  moon  to  have  been  once 
in  a  fluid  state,  it  is  demonstrable  that  the  at- 
traction of  the  earth  would  accumulate  a  mass 
of  matter  like  a  tidal  elevation  in  the  direction 
of  a  line  joining  the  centers  of  the  two  bodies ; 
and  as  a  consequence  the  real  shape  of  the  moon 
must  be  an  ellipsoid,  or  somewhat  egg-shaped 
body,  the  major  axis  of  which  is  directed  toward 
the  earth." 

That  some  such  phenomenon  has  obtained  is 
evident  from  the  coincidence  of  the  times  of 
orbital  revolution  and  axial  rotation  of  the  lunar 
sphere.  "  '  It  would  be  against  all  probability,' 
says  Laplace, '  to  suppose  that  these  two  motions 
had  been  at  their  origin  perfectly  equal,'  but  it 
is  sufficient  that  their  primitive  difference  was 
but  small,  in  which  case  the  constant  attraction 
by  the  earth  of  the  protuberant  part  of  the  moon 
would  establish  the  equality  which  at  present 
exists."  ^ 

The  moon  revolves  around  the  earth  in 
twenty-seven  days,  seven  hours,  forty-three 
minutes,  and  eleven  and  one-half  seconds,  and 
rotates  upon  its  axis  only  once  in  the  same  time 
that  it  revolves  around  the  earth.  This  is  the 
reason  why  the  moon  always  presents  the  same 

1  The  Moon,  Nasmytli  and  Carpenter,  p.  35.  ''  The 
moon  has  a  small  elon<?ation  toward  the  earth"  {The 
Moon  and  the  Conditions  and  Configurations  of  its  Sur- 
face, Edmund  Neison,  p.  12). 


THE   THIED   DAY.  97 

side  to  the  earth,  in  whatever  portion  of  its  orbit 
it  may  be.  The  exact  coincidence  of  its  orbital 
and  axial  revolntious  may  be  thus  illnstratod: 
Place  upon  a  table  a  lighted  lamp.  Let  a  per- 
son walk  around  the  table  with  his  face  steadily 
presented  straightforward  to  the  light.  "When  he 
has  completed  one  circuit  of  the  table  he  will 
also  have  made  one  axial  turning  of  his  body, 
for  he  will  have  faced  every  point  of  the  com- 
pass consecutively. 

For  this  reason,  and  because  of  the  exact  coin- 
cidence of  the  orbital  and  axial  revolutions  of 
the  moon,  it  may  well  be  doubted  if  the  moon 
has  any  independent  axial  rotation  at  all,  or,  if 
it  ever  had,  it  has  been  neutralized  and  over- 
come by  the  axial  rotation  caused  by  the  gravi- 
tation of  the  moon  toward  the  earth.  This 
equatorial  protuberance  or  bulge  of  the  moon 
keeps  that  side  of  the  body  toward  the  earth,  and 
it  cannot  turn  away  from  the  constant  radial 
direction  of  that  gravitation.  The  moon  has 
an  orbital  velocity,  however,  around  the  earth, 
but,  wherever  in  the  orbital  travel  the  moon 
may  be,  its  heavier  side  must  be  directed  toward 
the  earth.  Hence,  in  one  complete  revolution 
in  its  orbit  the  moon  turns  once  upon  its  axis, 
no  more  and  no  less.  The  reason  why  the 
moon  always  presents  the  same  side  to  the  earth 
is  stated  in  other  words  in  Asa  Smith's  Illus- 
trated Astronomy:  "  It  is  supposed  that  one  side 
of  the  moon  is  more  dense  than  the  other;  con- 


98  GENESIS   AND   MODEKN    SCIENCE. 

sequeiitly  the  center  of  gravity  is  not  in  the 
center  of  the  moon." 

If,  for  this  reason,  the  moon  performs  its  cir- 
cuit around  the  earth  with  the  same  face  always 
presented  thereto,  so  may  also  the  earth,  for  a 
like  reason,  have  performed  its  circuit  with  its 
northern  side  always  directed  to  the  sun. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE   THIRD   DAY  (Contimwd). 

Having  clearly  stated  and  illustrated  tlie  prop- 
osition that  the  earth,  l)y  reason  of  the  upheaval 
of  the  Laurentian  rocks,  gravitated  toward  the 
sun  with  its  northern  side  constantly  presented 
thereto,  let  us  turn  to  the  rocky  archives  of  the 
earth's  history  and  examine  what  evidence  is 
there  to  be  found  to  establish  the  truth  of  the 
proposition. 

Were  the  Arctic  regions  formerly  the  warmest 
portion  of  the  earth's  surface  ?  The  evidence  is 
abundant  and  overwhelming  that  they  were, 
and  for  long  ages  continued  so  to  be. 

Early  in  the  history  of  the  science  of  geology 
the  first  naturalists  who  investigated  the  con- 
tents of  the  ancient  strata  conjectured  that  the 
mean  temperature  of  the  northern  hemisphere 
must  once  have  been  like  that  now  prevailing 
within  the  tropics.  This  conjecture  became 
more  probable  when  the  shells  and  corals  of  the 

99 


100  GENESIS  AND   MODEEN   SCIENCE. 

older  Tertiary  and  many  Secondary  rocks  were 
fonnd  to  be  generically  similar  to  species  now 
living  in  warmer  latitudes.  Later,  the  discovery 
of  organic  remains  of  many  reptiles  and  large 
saurian  animals  in  great  abundance  in  Euroj:)ean 
formations  afforded  strong  reasons  to  believe 
that  the  heat  of  the  climate  must  have  been 
great  when  the  Secondary  strata  were  deposited. 
Lastly,  the  examination  of  fossil  plants  in  the 
most  northern  parts  of  Europe  and  North 
America,  and  even  in  the  Arctic  regions,  proved 
the  same  gi'eat  revolution  in  climate.  The  flora 
of  a  country  must  demonstrate  the  prevailing 
temperature.  "  Plants,"  says  Dr.  Gray,  "  are  the 
thermometers  of  the  ages,  by  which  climatic  ex- 
tremes and  climates  are  best  measured."  How, 
then,  can  we  account  for  tropical  flora  in  the 
Arctic  regions,  unless  the  Arctic  regions  once 
possessed  a  torrid  climate,  that  is,  were  exposed 
to  the  direct  rays  of  the  sun  throughout  the 
year  ?  The  ancient  coal-deposits  in  the  far  North 
are  a  most  extraordinary  proof  of  the  former 
existence  of  a  moist,  warm,  and  extremely  uni- 
form climate  in  those  latitudes  which  are  now 
the  coldest  and,  in  regard  to  temperature,  the 
most  variable  regions  of  the  globe.^ 

Coal-beds  are  found  in  Greenland  and  Nor- 
thumberland, and  even  as  far  north  as  Melville 
Island  (TS*^  north  latitude)  there  are  fossil  coal- 
plants.     These  plants  are  generically  the  same 

^  PrincipJes  of  Geolofpj,  Lyell,  p.  73. 


THE   THIRD   DAY.  101 

as  those  found  in  Guiana  and  Africa  at  the 
present  time,  and  yet  Melville  Island  is  dis- 
tant but  15°  from  the  north  pole !  An  Eng- 
lish Arctic  expedition  brought  to  light  a  bed 
of  coal,  black  and  lustrous  like  one  of  the  Pale- 
ozoic fuels,  in 81°  45'  latitude;  it  is  from  25 
to  30  feet  thick ;  ^  yet  this  locality  is  less  than 
9°  distant  from  the  north  pole !  Nor  are  these 
exceptional  cases.  The  coal-beds  of  the  Arc- 
tic regions  show  profuse  growth  over  an  ex- 
tended area  and  protracted  through  a  long 
period.  The  best  authorities  agree  that  coal- 
beds  were  formed  in  the  places  where  the  coal- 
plants  grew,  and  we  must  therefore  eon<?lude 
that  the  Arctic  regions  were  once  torrid  in  tem- 
perature; for  these  tropical  plants  not  only 
require  a  moist  air  and  a  warm  and  equable 
temperature,  but  also  a  generous  sunlight.  How 
could  these  tropical  plants  have  survived  the 
long  dark  Arctic  winter  ? 

Sir  Charles  Lyell,  who  has  given  this  prol3- 
lem  much  study,  cannot  satisfactorily  account 
for  these  facts.  He  suggests  that  palm-trees 
have  been  grown  in  hot-houses  in  St.  Peters- 
burg, although  the  period  of  sunlight  in  that 
latitude  varies  from  five  to  nineteen  hours 
per  day  during  the  year ;  but  that  falls  far  short 
of  a  demonstration  that  such  trees  could  ever 
have  thriven  in  a  natural  condition  in  a  year 

1  Encjidopmdia  Britannica  (ninth  edition),  article 
"  Geology." 


102  GENESIS   AND   MODERN   SCIENCE. 

iiea]-ly  oue-lialf  of  which  was  devoid  of  smihght. 
He  also  suggests  that  the  coal-phants  had  pecul- 
iarities of  structure  unlike  any  now  known  in 
plant  life,  and  that  therefore  they  might  not 
have  been  so  dependent  on  sunlight  as  plants 
now  are ;  but  that  is  a  begging  of  the  question, 
and  the  merest  conjecture.  It  is  contrary  to  all 
the  laws  of  plant  life  as  we  know  them,  and  if 
natural  law  remains  the  same  throughout  all  the 
terrestrial  ages,  we  must  believe  that  those 
plants  must  have  had  the  same  generous  heat 
and  sunshine  which  tropical  plants  now  require. 

Dr.  Croll  says :  "  Greenland  and  the  Arctic 
regions  probably  up  to  the  north  pole  were  not 
only  free  from  ice,  but  were  covered  with  a  rich 
and  luxuriant  vegetation."  ^ 

Sir  Robert  Ball  writes :  "  The  climate  has  once 
been  more  mild  and  more  genial  over  the  north- 
ern hemisphere  than  that  which  it  now  enjoys. 
Sunshine  and  warmth  have  abounded  within  the 
Arctic  circle,  and,  as  it  would  seem,  as  far  as  the 
pole  itself.  There  have  been  times  when  Green- 
land merited  the  attractive  name  it  bears.  A 
luxuriant  verdure  has  clothed  its  shores,  and 
stately  forests  have  adorned  the  land  now 
smothered  beneath  a  thousand  feet  of  ice;  even 
in  the  vicinity  of  the  dreary  north  pole  itself,  as 
far  as  the  hardihood  of  Arctic  explorers  has 
carried  them,  tlie  remains  of  what  seems  to  have 
been  a  charming  vegetation  have  been  discov- 
^  Climate  and  Time,  p.  7. 


THE   THIRD   DAY.  103 

ered.  Plants  which  are  too  tender  to  withstand 
the  rigors  of  an  ordinary  British  winter  without 
protection  appear  at  one  time  to  have  flourished 
wdthin  a  few  hundred  miles  of  the  pole.  In  the 
Arctic  solitudes  there  were  once  fresh-water 
lakes  whose  margins  were  fringed  with  large 
reeds,  while  water-lilies,  which  demanded  a 
mild  climate,  floated  on  their  surface."  ^ 

"Myrtle  and  tree-ferns  once  flourished  in 
Greenland ;  coral  insects  built  on  the  shores  of 
Melville  Island;  nautili  sailed  over  what  must 
then  have  been  the  tepid  seas  about  Spitzbergen ; 
magnolias  blossomed  in  Greenland  up  to  70°  of 
latitude,  and  vines  ripened  their  fruit.  This 
genial  uniformity  of  warmth  may  very  well  have 
lasted  some  hundreds  of  thousands  of  years."  - 

Professor  Nordenskjold  says:  "Both  an  ex- 
amination of  the  geognostic  condition  and  an 
investigation  of  the  fossil  flora  and  fauna  of  the 
polar  lands  show  no  signs  of  a  glacial  era  having 
existed  in  those  parts  before  the  termination  of 
the  Miocene  period."  ^ 

"  The  American  half  of  the  Arctic  Ocean  pre- 
sents a  matter  very  difiicult  to  be  explained," 
says  Cha))ihers''s  Encydopedia.  "In  latitude 
74°  25'  and  in  latitude  7G°  15'  respectively, 
Captain  McClure  and  Lieutenant  Mecham  dis- 
covered large  deposits  of  trees,  apparently  in- 

^  The  Causes  of  an  Ice  Age,  p.  27. 

2  EtUnhurgh  lieview,  April,  1892. 

3  Climate  and  Time,  Croll,  p.  170. 


104  GENESIS   AND   MODERN    SCIENCE. 

digenouR,  of  considerable  size.  Writing  of 
Banks'  Island,  MeClure  has  the  following  pas- 
sages: 'From  the  summit  of  these  hills,  whieh 
are  300  feet  high,  to  their  base,  abundance 
of  wood  is  to  be  found;  and  in  many  places 
layers  of  trees  are  visible,  some  protruding 
12  or  11  feet,  and  so  firm  that  several  j^eople 
may  jump  on  them  without  their  breaking; 
the  largest  trunk  yet  found  measured  1  foot  7 
inches  in  diameter' — equivalent  in  girth  to 
about  five  feet.  Again,  'I  entered  a  ravine 
some  miles  inland,  and  found  the  north  side 
of  it,  for  a  depth  of  40  feet,  composed  of  one 
mass  of  wood.  Some  of  it  was  jDetrified,  the 
remainder  very  rotten,  and  worthless  even  for 
burning.'  Writing  of  Prince  Patrick  Island, 
Mecham  has  the  following  passage :  '  Discovered 
buried  in  the  east  baak  of  the  ravine,  and  pro- 
truding about  8  feet,  a  tree  of  considerable 
size.  During  the  afternoon  I  found  several 
others  of  a  similar  kind.  Circumference  of  first 
and  second  trees  seen,  3  feet;  of  another,  2 
feet  10  inches.  From  the  perfect  state  of  the 
bark  and  the  distance  of  the  trees  from  the 
sea,  there  can  be  but  little  doubt  that  they  grew 
originally  in  this  country.  I  sawed  one  through  : 
it  appeared  very  close-grained,  and  was  so  im- 
mensely heavy  that  we  could  carry  but  little  of 
it  away.'"i 

Alluding  to  those  distant  ages,  M.  le  Marquis 
^  Chambers's  Encyclopedia,  article  "Arctic  Ocean." 


THE    THIRD   DAY.  105 

de  Nadaillac  remarks,  "  Under  these  conditions, 
life  spread  freely  even  to  the  pole."  ^  Keerl  holds 
that  at  the  very  j)ole  it  was  then  warmer  than 
now  at  the  eqnator.- 

Greenland  has  had  its  hot  and  temj^erate  pe- 
riods as  well  as  a  glacial  epoch.  The  old  forma- 
tions yield  Carboniferous,  Triassic,  and  Jurassic 
fossils  of  plants  comparable  to  those  now  joecul- 
iar  to  the  torrid  zone.  The  upper  chalk-beds 
abound  in  vegetable  forms  analogous  to  those 
of  the  subtropical  and  temperate  zones,  sup- 
plying numerous  species  of  Cijcadacece,  a  tree- 
fern  and  even  a  breadfruit-tree,  thus  indicating 
a  temperature  of  about  68°  F.  The  Miocene 
flora,  corresponding  to  a  temperature  of  about 
54°  F.,  is  illustrated  by  splendid  sioecimens,  dis- 
covered chiefly  on  Disco  Island  and  in  its  vicin- 
ity. As  many  as  six  hundred  and  thirteen 
species  of  fossil  plants  have  been  found  in  the 
Greenland  strata,  among  which  are  beeches, 
oaks,  walnuts,  magnolias,  laurel,  and  a  true 
palm — the  Flahellaria.  The  most  prevalent  tree 
is  the  Sequoia,  closely  resembling  those  at  pres- 
ent indigenous  to  California  and  Oregon.  The 
forest-trees  were  festooned  with  ivy,  vines,  and 
other  creepers.     The  largest  leaf  of  a  Cycadea 

^  Paradise  Found,  p.  85,  quoting  Les  Premiers 
Hommes  et  les  Temps  Prehistoriqiies,  tome  ii.,  p.  391. 

-  Paradise  Found,  p.  85,  quoting  Die  Schopfunrjs- 
geschichfe  und  Lehre  vom  Paradies,  Abth.  I.,  p.  G34. 


106  GENESIS   AND  MODEKN   SCIENCE. 

ever  seen  was  found  among  these  fossil  re- 
mains.^ 

These  citations  could  be  easily  multiplied,  but 
enough  have  been  given  to  portray  vividly  the 
jDlant  life  of  the  early  geological  ages  in  the 
northern  hemisphere.  I  have  included  those 
which  refer  to  the  Tertiary  as  well  as  to  the  Sec- 
ondary ages  for  reasons  which  will  presently  ap- 
pear. This  abundant  evidence  of  a  former  torrid 
climate  in  the  north  polar  regions  has  been  one 
of  the  most  famous  and  perplexing  problems  of 
geological  study.  Its  solution  has  been  often 
attempted,  but  without  success  hitherto.  But 
if  the  Arctic  lands  were  once  the  torrid  region 
of  the  earth,  the  simplest  as  well  as  the  most 
satisfactory  explanation  seems  to  be  that  the 
northern  hemisphere  continually  faced  the  sun 
and  that  the  earth's  equator  was  perpendicular 
to  the  ecliptic.  But  if  the  poles  of  the  earth 
were  in  the  plane  of  the  ecliptic,  there  could 
have  been  no  alternation  of  day  and  night  upon 
the  face  of  the  whole  earth. 

As  remarkable  as  are  the  proofs  furnished  by 
the  ancient  Arctic  flora  of  the  former  torrid  cli- 
mate of  that  region,  the  fossil  relics  of  the  Arctic 
fauna  are  no  less  remarkable.  They  fully  cor- 
roborate the  testimony  of  the  plants. 

Among  the  extinct  mammalia  entombed  are 
found  species  of  the  elephant,  rhinoceros,  hip- 

^  "North  America,"  filisee  Reclus  {PojmJar  Science 
Monthly,  vol.  xxxvii.,  p.  307). 


THE   THIRD   DAY.  107 

popotamus,  bear,  hyena,  lion,  tiger,  monkey, 
and  many  others,  consisting  partly  of  genera 
now  confined  to  warmer  regions.  It  is  certainly 
probable  that  when  some  of  these  quadrupeds 
abounded  in  Europe  the  climate  was  milder  than 
that  now  experienced.  The  hippopotamus,  for 
example,  is  now  only  m.et  with  where  the  tem- 
perature of  the  water  is  warm  and  nearly  uni- 
form throughout  the  year,  and  where  the  rivers 
are  never  frozen  over.  Yet  the  liiiDpopotamus 
once  inhabited  England  (lying  between  50°  and 
60°  north  latitude),  and  the  mammoth  also  lived 
there.  But  we  will  pass  to  an  examination  of 
the  fossils  of  still  higher  latitudes.  The  entire 
carcass  of  a  mammoth  (or  extinct  species  of  ele- 
phant) was  obtained  in  1803  by  Mr.  Adams.  It 
fell  from  a  mass  of  ice,  in  which  it  had  been  in- 
cased on  the  banks  of  the  Lena,  in  latitude  70° 
north,  and  so  perfectly  had  the  soft  parts  of  the 
carcass  been  j^reserved  that  the  flesh,  as  it  lay, 
was  devoured  by  wolves  and  bears.  The  skele- 
ton is  now  in  the  museum  at  St.  Petersburg.^ 
The  grinders  and  bones  of  elephants  were  found 
on  the  banks  of  the  Yenesei,  in  latitude  06°  north, 
and  the  grinders  of  mammoths  were  collected  on 
the  same  river  in  latitude  70°  north.  One  ele- 
phant was  found  in  1843  on  the  Tas,  between 
the  Old  and  the  Yenesei,  near  the  Arctic  circle, 
about  latitude  66°  30'  north,  with  some  parts  of 

1  The  animal  was  9  feet  high  and  16  feet  long, 
exclusive  of  the  tusks,  and  had  a  shaggy  fur  coat. 


108  GENESIS   AND   MODEKN   SCIENCE. 

the  flesli  in  so  perfect  a  state  that  the  bulb  of 
the  eye  is  now  preserved  in  the  museum  at 
Moscow.  Another  carcass,  together  with  that 
of  a  younger  individual  of  the  same  species,  was 
found  in  the  same  year  in  latitude  75°  15'  north, 
near  the  river  Taimyr.  Pallas  and  other  writers 
describe  the  l)ones  of  the  mammoth  as  abound- 
ing throughout  all  the  lowlands  of  Siberia, 
stretching  in  a  direction  east  and  west,  from  the 
borders  of  Europe  to  the  extreme  point  nearest 
America,  and  south  and  north,  from  the  base  of 
the  mountains  of  central  Asia  to  the  shores  of 
the  Arctic  sea.  Within  this  space,  scarcely 
less  in  area  than  the  whole  of  Europe,  fossil 
ivory  has  been  collected  almost  everywhere. 
So  fresh  is  the  ivory  throughout  northern  Rus- 
sia that,  according  to  Tilesius,  thousands  of 
tusks  have  been  collected  and  use<l  in  turning, 
and  yet  others  are  still  procured  and  sold  in  great 
plenty.  He  expresses  his  belief  that  the  bones 
still  left  in  northern  Russia  must  greatly  exceed 
in  number  all  the  elei^hants  now  living  upon 
the  globe.  ^ 

Piguier  says :  "  Elephant  remains  are  found 
.  .  .  especially  in  Siberia.  '  There  is  not,'  says 
Pallas, '  in  the  whole  of  Asiatic  Russia,  from  the 
Don  to  the  extremity  of  the  Tchutchain  prom- 
ontory, any  brook  or  river,  es})ecially  of  those 
which  flow  into  the  plains,  on  the  banks  of 
which  some  bones  of  elephants  and  other  ani- 

^  PrincipUs  of  Geologij,  Lyell,  p.  75  ef  seq. 


THE   THIRD    DAY.  109 

mals  foreign  to  the  climate  have  not  been 
found.'"  "In  BeUing^s  Voyage  it  is  written 
concerning  an  island  nearest  to  the  mainland, 
which  is  about  36  leagues  in  length,  that, 
except  three  or  four  small  rocky  mountains,  it 
is  a  mixture  of  sand  and  ice ;  so  that  when  the 
thaw  sets  in  and  its  banks  begin  to  fall,  many 
mammoth  bones  are  found.  All  the  isle  is 
formed  of  the  bones  of  this  extraordinary  ani- 
mal, of  the  horns  and  crania  of  buffaloes,  or  of 
an  animal  which  resembles  them,  and  of  some 
rhinoceroses'  horns."  "  New  Siberia  and  the  Isle 
of  Laclion  are,  for  the  most  part,  only  an 
agglomeration  of  sand,  ice,  and  elephants'  teeth. 
At  every  temj^est  the  sea  casts  ashore  new  quan- 
tities of  mammoths'  tusks,  and  the  inhabitants 
of  Siberia  carry  on  a  profitable  commerce  in  this 
fossil  ivory.  Every  year,  during  the  summer,  in- 
numerable fishermen's  barks  direct  their  course 
to  this  isle  of  bones;  and  during  the  winter 
immense  caravans  take  the  same  route,  all  the 
convoys  drawn  by  dogs,  returning  charged  with 
the  tusks  of  mammoths  weighing  each  from  one 
hundred  and  fifty  to  two  hundred  pounds.  The 
fossil  ivory  thus  withdrawn  from  the  frozen 
North  is  imported  into  China  and  Europe,  where 
it  is  employed  for  the  same  purpose  as  ordinary 
ivory.  The  isle  of  bones  has  served  as  a  quarry 
of  this  valuable  material  for  export  to  China  for 
five  hundred  years,  and  it  has  been  exported  to 
Europe  for  upward  of  a  hundred  years,  but  the 


110  GENESIS   AND   MODEllN    SCIENCE. 

supply  from  these  strange  mines  remains  un- 
diminished." ^ 

"  The  fossil-ivory  beds  of  Siberia  excel  every- 
thing of  the  kind  in  the  world.  From  the  days 
of  Pliny  at  least  they  have  constantly  been  un- 
dergoing exploitation,  and  they  still  are  the  chief 
headquarters  of  supply.^  The  remains  of  the 
mammoth  are  so  abundant  that,  as  Gratacap 
says, '  the  northern  islands  of  Siberia  seem  built 
up  of  its  crowded  bones.'  Another  scientific 
writer,  speaking  of  the  islands  of  New  Siberia 
northward  of  the  mouth  of  the  river  Lena,  uses 
this  language :  'Large  quantities  of  ivory  are 
dug  out  of  the  gi'ound  every  year.  Indeed, 
some  of  the  islands  are  believed  to  be  nothing 
but  an  accumulation  of  drift-timber  and  the 
bodies  of  mammoths  and  other  antediluvian 
animals  frozen  together.' "  ^ 

"  On  the  side  of  East  Siberia  the  Arctic  Oceau 
loroduces  a  remarkable  article  of  traffic.  Here 
are  found  in  the  gi-eatest  abundance  the  bones 
of  the  mammoth.  Spring  after  spring  the  al- 
luvial banks  of  the  lakes  and  rivers,  crumljling 
under  the  thaw,  give  up,  as  it  were,  their  dead ; 

1  The  World  before  the  Deluge,  p.  344  et  seq. 

^  Nordenskjcild  says  that  the  steamer  on  which  he 
sailed  up  the  Yenesei  in  1875  was  on  that  single  trip 
taking  more  than  one  hundred  tusks  to  market 
{Paradise  Found,  p.  298,  quoting  The  Voyage  of  the 
Veeja,  p.  305). 

3  Faradise  Found,  p.  297. 


THE   THIED    DAY.  Ill 

wliile  tlie  islands  l^'iiig  off  the  Yana,  and  even 
the  depths  of  the  sea  itself,  literally  teem  with 
these  mj^sterious  memorials  of  antiquity." ' 

We  might  continue  at  great  length  with  simi- 
lar quotations,  but  enough  has  been  adduced  to 
set  forth  the  facts  for  the  present  purpose. 

I  do  not  forget  that  elephants,  mammoths, 
and  otiier  mammiferous  animals  were  not 
created  on  the  third  day,  but  on  the  sixth.  I 
intend  here  to  show  that  the  warm  climate  of 
the  Arctic  regions,  which  began  on  the  third 
day,  continued  to  the  sixth,  and,  changing  from 
torrid  to  temperate,  even  extended  far  into  the 
human  period. 

If  my  theory  is  true,  we  ought  to  be  able  to 
find  in  the  southern  hemisphere  some  evidence 
that  the  temperature  there  was  intensely  cold. 
We  have  shown  by  indubitable  proof  that  the 
Arctic  regions  were  once  torrid.  Is  there  any 
proof  of  a  diametrically  opposite  condition  of 
temperature  and  climate  south  of  the  equator  ? 

"  It  has  long  been  supposed  that  the  general 
temperature  of  the  southern  hemisphere  was 
considerably  lower  than  that  of  the  northern, 
and  that  the  difference  amounted  to  at  least 
10°  F.  Baron  Humboldt,  after  collecting  and 
comparing  a  great  number  of  observations, 
came  to  the  conclusion  that  even  a  much  larger 
difference  existed,  but  that  none  was  to  be 
observed  within  the  tropics,  and  only  a  small 
1  Chatnhers's  Encudopedia,  article  "  Arctic  Ocean." 


112  GENESIS   AND   MODERN   SCIENCE. 

difference  as  far  as  the  tliirty-fiftli  and  fortieth 
parallels.  Captain  Cook  was  of  the  opinion 
that  the  ice  of  the  Antarctic  predominated  over 
that  of  the  Arctic  regions,  tliat  encircling  the 
sontliern  pole  coming  nearer  to  the  equator  by 
10°  than  the  ice  around  the  north  pole.  All 
the  recent  voyages  of  discovery  have  tended  to 
confirm  this  opinion." 

"  The  description  given  by  ancient  as  well  as 
modern  navigators  of  the  sea  and  land  in  high 
southern  latitudes  clearly  attests  the  greater 
severity  of  the  climate  as  compared  with  the 
Arctic  regions.  In  Sandwich  Land,  in  latitude 
59°  south,  or  in  nearly  the  same  parallel  as  the 
north  of  Scotland,  Cajotain  Cook  found  the 
whole  country,  from  the  summits  of  the  moun- 
tains down  to  the  very  brink  of  the  sea,  'cov- 
ered many  fathoms  thick  with  everlasting 
snow';  and  this  on  the  first  day  of  February, 
the  hottest  time  in  the  year.  And,  what  is  still 
more  astonishing,  in  the  island  of  South  Georgia, 
which  is  in  latitude  54°  south,  in  the  same  par- 
allel as  Yorkshire,  the  line  of  perpetual  snow 
descends  to  the  level  of  the  sea.  .  .  .  The  high- 
est mountains  of  Scotland,  which  ascend  to  an 
elevation  of  nearly  5,000  feet,  and  are  1:°  farther 
to  the  north,  do  not  attain  the  limit  of  perpetual 
snow.  .  .  .  Caj)tain  Sir  James  Ross,  in  his 
exploring  expedition  of  1841-43,  found  tliat  the 
temperature  south  of  the  sixtieth  degree  of  lati- 
tude seldom  rose  above  32°  F.     During  the  two 


THE   THIllD   DAY.  113 

summer  months  of  1841  the  range  of  the  ther- 
mometer was  between  11°  and  32°  F.,  and 
scarcely  once  rose  above  the  freezing-point." 
"  Graham's  and  Enderby's  Land,  discovered  in 
1831-32  (between  61°  and  68°  south  hititude), 
presented  a  most  Avintry  aspect,  covered  even 
in  summer  with  ice  and  snow,  and  nearly  desti- 
tute of  animal  life.  In  corresponding  latitudes 
of  the  northern  hemisphere  we  not  only  meet 
with  herds  of  herbivorous  animals,  but  with 
land  which  man  himself  inhabits,  and  where 
he  has  even  built  ports  and  inland  villages." 
"  The  distance  to  which  icebergs  float  from  the 
Arctic  regions  is  to  40°  and  42°  north  latitude, 
but  in  the  southern  hemisphere  the  distance  is 
36°  or  38°  south  latitude."  "  In  confirmation 
of  these  views,  it  is  stated  that  the  ice,  which 
extends  as  far  as  68°  and  71°  south  latitude, 
advances  more  toward  the  equator,  where  it 
meets  an  open  sea."  ^ 

Lieutenant  Wilkes,  of  the  American  Explor- 
ing Expedition,  says  that  the  temperature  they 
experienced  in  the  Antarctic  regions  surprised 
him ;  for  they  seldom,  if  ever,  had  it  above  30° 
even  at  midday.  Captain  Nares,  when  in  lati- 
tude 64°  south,  between  February  13  and  25, 
1874,  found  the  mean  temperature  of  the  air  to 
be  31i°,  a  lower  temperature  than  is  met  with  in 
the  Arctic  regions  in  August,  10°  nearer  the  pole.2 

1  Priuclples  of  Geology,  Lyell,  p.  98  et  seq. 

2  "  Challenger's  "  Reports,  No.  2,  \).  10. 


114  GENESIS    AND    MODERN    SCIENCE. 

On  Captain  Cook's  first  voyage  two  of  his  com- 
panions were  frozen  to  death  at  Tierra  del  Fuego 
in  January,  which  would  be  equivalent  to  saying 
that  men  froze  to  death  in  Edinburgh  in  July  ! 

Why  are  there  no  mines  of  fossil  ivory  and 
islands  of  elephants'  teeth  in  the  Antarctic  re- 
gions? Why  have  not  the  magnolias,  sequoias, 
and  plane-trees  flourished  in  the  south  polar 
lands!  Simply  because  that  portion  of  the 
earth  was  never  possessed  of  a  torrid  climate. 

"  The  diversity  of  the  two  poles  is  as  great 
and  perplexing  to  the  biologist  as  to  the  physi- 
cal geographer.  '  The  researches  made  show 
that  the  two  polar  regions  ditfer  greatly.  The 
seas  of  the  Arctic  teem  with  animal  life.  Land 
animals,  such  as  the  bear,  wolf,  reindeer,  musk- 
ox,  and  Arctic  fox,  are  scattered  over  the  frozen 
surface  of  the  land,  where  they  find  means  of 
sustenance.  The  air  is  peopled  with  innumer- 
able flocks  of  birds.  A  hardy  vegetation  ex- 
tends close  up  to  the  Arctic  circle,  and  beyond 
it,  in  mosses,  lichens,  scurvy-grass,  sorrel,  small 
stunted  shrubs,  dwarfed  trees,  and  in  summer 
beautiful  flowers.  In  the  Antarctic,  on  the  con- 
trary, vegetation  ceases  at  a  certain  limit,  trees 
terminating  at  about  56°  south  latitude  Animal 
life  abounds  in  the  seas,  but  though  birds  exist  in 
great  numbers  and  in  varieties  unknown  in  the 
Arctic,  no  quadrupeds  arefound  upon  the  land.'"  ^ 

^  Paradise  Found,  p.  323,  quoting  Jolmsoti's  Cyclo- 
pedia, article  ''  Polar  Research." 


THE   THIRD   DAY.  115 

"  With  this  we  may  compare  the  language  of 
Sir  Joseph  Hooker:  ' Geogi-aphicaUy  speaking, 
there  is  no  Antarctic  flora,  except  a  few  licliens 
and  sea-weeds.'"  ^ 

It  is  thus  apparent  that  there  now  is,  and 
from  the  earliest  times  of  animal  and  plant  life 
has  been,  a  vast  difference  between  the  tempera- 
ture of  the  high  latitudes  of  the  northern  and 
southern  hemispheres.  If  the  axis  of  the  earth's 
rotation  has  always  been,  as  now,  at  an  angle 
of  6Gh°  with  the  ecliptic,  how  could  there  have 
been  so  great  a  difiference  in  the  temperature  of 
the  Arctic  and  Antarctic  zones?  The  amount 
of  sunlight  and  heat  received  by  each  respec- 
tively would  always  have  been  nearly  the  same. 
The  excess  of  ocean  in  the  southern  hemisphere 
does  not  account  for  this  difference,  nor  does 
any  theory  of  ocean-currents  fully  explain  it. 
But  if  the  whole  of  that  hemisphere  endured  a 
winter  throughout  the  earlier  geological  periods, 
it  is  not  surprising  that  the  sunlight,  which  has 
fallen  obliquely  upon  the  Antarctic  regions  for 
less  than  six  thousand  polar  years,  has  not  been 
able  to  melt  away  the  ice  and  snow  beyond  54° 
south  latitude ;  and  if  the  excess  of  ice  in  the 
southern  hemisphere  is  now  so  great,  what  must 
it  have  been  before  the  sun  cvov  touched  the 
tropic  of  Capricorn,  or  even  crossed  the  equator? 
My  theory  seems  to  account  for  all  these  difter- 

1  Paradise  Found,  p.  323,  quoting  Xafta-e  (London, 
1881),  p.  447. 


116  GENESIS   AND   MODEEN    SCIENCE. 

ences  between  the  northern  and  southern  hemi- 
spheres. I  am  not  aware  of  any  other  which 
does. 

Charles  Darwin  says,  "  In  scientific  investiga- 
tions it  is  permitted  to  invent  any  hypothesis, 
and  if  it  explains  various  large  and  independent 
classes  of  facts  it  rises  to  the  rank  of  a  well- 
grounded  theory." 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE    THIKD   DAY    {Continued). 

In  the  period  called  in  the  Bible  "  the  third 
day  "  I  include,  as  will  presently  be  stated  more 
fully,  all  the  geological  ages  grouped  together 
as  "Paleozoic  time."  During  this  time,  it  is 
true,  there  were  upheavals  of  the  earth's  crust 
in  the  southern  hemisphere,  but  by  no  means  so 
many  nor  so  extensive  as  in  the  northern  hemi- 
sphere; therefore  the  position  of  the  earth  in 
relation  to  the  sun  continued  unchanged.  By 
examining  the  figure  illustrating  the  position  of 
the  earth  in  Paleozoic  time,  it  will  be  seen  that 
the  north  polar  region  was  the  torrid  portion, 
and  that  the  equatorial  region  was  the  frigid 
zone,  while  south  of  the  equator  was  the  region 
of  darkness  and  intensest  cold. 

With  these  remarks  by  way  of  preface,  let  us 
proceed  to  further  arguments  to  show  that  such 
was  once  the  position  of  the  earth  toward  the 
sun.  I  now  refer  to  some  of  the  evidences  of 
glacial  action  in  different  parts  of  the  world. 

117 


118  GENESIS   AND   MODEEN    SCIENCE. 

The  extreme  southern  limit  of  the  glacial  drift 
in  North  America  is  near  the  thirty-ninth  par- 
allel, the  latitude  of  southern  Pennsylvania. 
Yet  at  the  equator  itself,  and  for  hundreds  of 
miles  south  of  it,  appears  the  glacial  drift ! 
Agassiz  (than  whom  there  has  not  been  a  more 
competent  authority  on  this  subject),  in  his 
book,  A  Journey  in  Brazil,  boldly  states  the  fact 
and  the  proofs  of  it ;  and,  however  extravagant 
the  statement  appears,  even  to  himself,  and 
however  inexplicable,  he  yet  maintains  his  posi- 
tion.i  He  says  the  extent  of  this  formation 
is  stupendous,  stretching  from  the  Atlantic 
through  the  Amazon  valley  the  whole  width  of 
Brazil,  into  Peru,  to  the  very  foot  of  the  Andes. 
It  cannot  be  of  marine  origin.  It  contnins  no 
sea-shells,  nor  remains  of  marine  animals,  over 
an  area  several  thousand  miles  long  and  from 
five  hundred  to  seven  hundred  miles  wide.  It 
is  clearly  a  glacial  deposit.  It  has  all  the  char- 
acteristics of  deposits  accumulated  in  glacier 
bottoms.  Hence  he  concludes  that  the  valley 
of  the  Amazon  was  once  filled  with  an  immense 
glacier.2    Glacial  deposits  have  also  been  found 

^  A  Journpy  in  Brazil,  p.  425.  See  also  Johnson's 
Cydopedid,  article  "  America." 

2  Professor  Agassiz  says  :  "  A  glance  at  any  geolog- 
ical map  of  the  world  will  show  that  the  valley  of  the 
Amazon,  so  far  as  an  attemj^jt  is  made  to  explain  its 
structure,  is  represented  as  containing  isolated  ti'acts 
of  Devonian,  Triassic,  Jurassic,  Cretaceous,  Tertiary, 


THE    THIKD   DAY.  119 

in  Abyssinia.  Traces  of  glacial  action  abound 
on  the  Himalayas.!  Croll,  in  Climate  and  Time,- 
writes:  "Mr.  W.  T.  Blanford,  of  tlie  Geological 
Survey  of  India,  states  tliat  in  beds  considered 
to  be  of  Carboniferous  age  are  found  large  bowl- 
ders, some  of  tliem  as  large  as  15  feet  in  dinni- 
eter.  The  bed  in  which  these  occur  is  a  fine 
silt  and  refers  the  deposition  of  tlie  bowlders  to 
ice  action.  Within  the  last  tln*ee  years  ^  his 
views  have  received  singular  confirmation  in 
another  part  of  India,  where  beds  of  limestone 
were  found  striated  below  certain  overlying 
strata." 

and  alluvial  deposits.  This  is  wholly  inaccurate  "  {A 
Journey  in  Brazil,  p.  •111). 

"  The  first  chapter  of  the  valley's  geological  history 
about  which  we  have  connected  and  trustworthy  data 
is  that  of  the  Cretaceous  period.  It  seems  certain  that 
at  the  close  of  the  Secondary  age  the  whole  Amazo- 
nian basin  became  lined  with  a  Cretaceous  deposit "  {A 
Journey  in  Brazil,  p.  408). 

Referring  to  this  opinion  of  Agassiz,  Professor  Hartt 
{Geology  and  Physical  Geography  of  Brazil,  p.  559) 
writes :  "  It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  when  Pro- 
fessor Agassiz  claimed  in  18G5  to  have  found  glacial 
drift  in  the  vicinity  of  Rio,  scientific  men  were  aston- 
ished and  doubted  the  correctness  of  the  professor's 
deductions ;  and  when  fnmi  under  the  eejnator  he  re- 
ported the  discovery  of  glacial  moraines,  the  statement 
seemed  past  belief." 

1  Johnson's  Cyclopedia,  article  "Asia." 

2  Page  297.  ^  Book  published  in  1875. 


120  GENESIS   AND   MODERN   SCIENCE. 

On  what  theory  thus  far  propounded  can  an 
explanation  be  giv-en  of  the  presence  of  ghiciers 
in  early  geological  ages  at  the  equator  and 
within  the  limits  of  the  present  torrid  zone? 
On  my  theory  this  ceases  to  be  a  wonder  and  is 
a  very  natural  occurrence.  The  reference  in  the 
citation  about  glaciers  in  India  is  very  note- 
worthy, because  the  striations  were  found  in 
beds  of  limestone,  and  the  bowlders  were  found 
in  Carboniferous  beds — these  beds  being  Paleo- 
zoic, as  required  by  my  theory.  The  glacial 
period  of  the  northern  hemisphere,  however, 
occurred  in  comparatively  recent  geological  time 
and,  as  is  now  generally  believed,  within  the 
human  period. 

Another  strong  argument  in  favor  of  my  hy- 
pothesis is  found  in  the  distribution  of  coal  over 
the  globe.  Whatever  the  explanation  may  be, 
it  is  certainly  a  very  remarkable  fact  that  coal- 
deposits  abound  in  the  northern  hemisphere, 
while  but  little  coal  is  found  south  of  the  equa- 
tor. Let  us  consider  the  facts  somewhat  in 
detail.  The  largest  coal-de2:)Osits  are  in  the 
United  States,  Canada,  New  Brunswick,  Nova 
Scotia,  and  the  Arctic  archipelago — the  north- 
ern part  of  North  America.  In  Europe  the 
largest  deposits  are  in  England,  Russia,  and 
parts  of  Grermany.  In  Asia  the  largest  deposits 
are  in  China.  This  coal  is  Carboniferous,  and 
there  is  co^nparatively  little  coal  in  these  coun- 
tries which  is  of  Secondary  or  Tertiary  forma- 


THE    THIKD   DAY.  121 

tion.  But  as  we  pass  southward  iu  each  of 
these  continents  the  quantity  and  character  of 
the  coal  change.  Of  the  southern  countiies  of 
North  America,  coal  is  found  only  in  Mexico, 
and  there  only  in  small  deposits.^  As  to  the 
coals  of  Europe,  we  read  that  the  coal-fields  of 
central  and  southern  France  are  small  in  area. 
There  are  coal-fields  in  Savoy,  Styria,  and 
Carinthia,  but  they  are  of  small  economic  im- 
portance. Secondary  coals  occur  at  various 
points  in  the  Alps,  but  they  are  only  of  local 
interest.  Only  small  coal-fields  are  found  in 
Spain  and  Portugal.  There  is  but  very  little 
Carboniferous  coal  in  Italy.  As  to  Asia,  we  are 
informed  that  there  is  a  small  quantity  of  Car- 
boniferous coal  in  Asia  Minor.  Coal-bearing 
strata  occur  in  India,  in  numerous  detached 
basins  which  are  widely  distributed  over  the 
whole  peninsula,  the  aggregate  area,  however, 
being  but  small.- 

This  is  a  very  curious  showing.  The  best, 
richest,  oldest,  and  most  lustrous  coals  are  found 
north  of  the  central  lines  of  North  America, 
Europe,  and  Asia.  South  of  those  central  lines 
coal  is  found  in  small  quantities  and  of  less 
value,  and  this  gradation  downward  extends 
toward  the  equator— toward,  but  not  to  it, 
however,  for  "  the  Carboniferous  or  the  oldest 
and  principal  known  coal-fields  are  not  found 

1  JoJntson's  Ci/clopedia,  article  ''Mexico." 
~  Encudopadia  BriUmnica,  article  "Coal." 


122  GENESIS   AND   MODERN    SCIENCE. 

in  the  existing  tropics."  ^  As  coal  is  known  to 
be  the  product  of  rank  and  luxuriant  vegetation, 
we  should  naturally  exi:)ect  that  it  would  be 
most  abundant  in  the  torrid  zone,  which  is  now 
the  i^ortion  of  the  earth  where  the  rankest  and 
most  luxuriant  vegetation  exists.  But  if  what 
is  now  the  torrid  zone  was  in  the  coal-bearing 
ages  the  part  of  the  earth  where  the  sunshine 
was  least  in  volume  and  intensity,  the  coal-de- 
posits would  naturally  be  in  the  polar  and 
neighboring  lands,  would  grow  less  and  less 
toward  the  equator,  and  would  there  disap- 
pear. 

Dana,  in  his  last  edition  of  the  Manual  of 
Geology,  which  was  wholly  re-written  by  him 
shortly  before  his  death  and  was  published  in 
1895,  gives  the  latest  and  most  reliable  informa- 
tion concerning  this  subject.  After  naming  the 
various  countries  where  coal  is  found  in  the 
northern  hemisphere,  he  states  definitely  that 
the  coal  period  of  the  southern  hemisphere  is 
of  later  date  than  that  of  Euroj^e  and  America, 
and  occurred  in  the  Permian,  blending  into  the 
Triassic.  ...  In  India  or  southern  Asia  the 
chief  coal  era  began  in  the  Permian  and  con- 
tinued into  the  Triassic;  and  the  same  is  true 
for  south-western  Africa  and  the  southern  con- 
tinent, Australia.  .  .  .  There  are  no  workable 
beds  of  the  Carboniferous  age  in  South  America 
or  Africa.  ...  In  South  America  the  Carbonif- 

^  International  C!/cIoj)edia,  sxrticle  ''Geology." 


THE   THIRD   DAY.  123 

erous  beds  have  great  extent  in  Brazil,  in  the 
Amazon  valley — as  great  as  in  the  North 
American  Carboniferous — but  they  afford  no 
coal.^  Coal  is  found  in  only  one  place  in  Af- 
rica, in  Natal,  but  it  is  Triassic.  Some  doubt 
has  been  expressed  about  the  coal  of  Brazil,  but 
Affonso  Mabilde,  in  a  report  made  to  the  Presi- 
dent of  Rio  Grande  do  8ul,  says  that  the  coal  is 
a  lignite  of  Tertiary  age.^  The  coal  of  Australia, 
Borneo,  and  India,  so  far  as  known,  is  all  of 
Mesozoic  age;*  True  coal-measures  are  not 
known  to  exist  in  New  Zealand,  but  coal-bearing 
strata  have  been  described  by  geologists.  The 
older  is  probably  of  Cretaceous  or  Jurassic  age.* 
How  different  all  this  is  as  compared  with  the 
coal  north  of  the  equator!  While  the  coal- 
measures  of  the  northern  hemisphere  are  chiefly 
Paleozoic,  with  some  Mesozoic  and  Tertiary, 
those  south  of  the  equator  are  chiefly  Mesozoic 
and  Tertiary.^  The  age  of  coal  north  of  the 
equator  is  easily  determined,  but  south  of  the 
equator  that  age  is  problematical.     All  these 

^  Manual  of  Geology,  Dana  (foiulli  edition),  pp.  406, 
456,  682,  659. 

-  Geolo(jy  and  Physical  Geography  of  Brazil,  Hartt, 
p.  521. 

^  Johnson^ s  Cyclopedia,  article  "Coal,"  by  Professor 
J.  S.  Newberry,  of  Columbia  College. 

*  Uncyclopcedia  Britannica  (ninth  edition),  article 
"  Coal." 

^  Ibid. 


12-1  GENESIS   AND   MODEKN   SCIENCE. 

peculiarities  are  easily  explainable  on  my  hy- 
pothesis, but,  so  far  as  I  know,  have  never  been 
explained  on  any  other  theory. 

I  adduce  as  the  next  argument  a  set  of  facts 
which  I  believe  have  never  before  been  associ- 
ated in  a  geological  discussion,  although  they 
have  been  separately  commented  upon.  Taken 
together,  they  present  a  most  remarkable  com- 
bination, whatever  explanation  of  them  may  be 
attempted.  They  relate  to  the  stratigraphy  of 
the  northern  and  southern  hemispheres,  and 
show  an  actual  and  marked  difference  in  the 
structure  of  the  earth  north  and  south  of  the 
equator.  The  geological  formation  of  all  north- 
ern countries  is  complex  and  presents  the  vari- 
ous strata  in  a  regular  sequence,  with  gaps, 
indeed,  here  and  there,  but  always  in  the  same 
relative  order  of  arrangement.  The  strata  do 
not  separately  cover  large  areas.  The  British 
Isles,  for  instance,  although  comparatively  of 
small  extent,  show  strata  of  every  geological 
period.  Throughout  Europe  this  great  variety 
appears.  Of  North  America  it  is  said,  "It  is 
impossible  to  analyze  the  diversified  geological 
structure  of  the  continent  in  a  brief  space."  Of 
Asia  it  is  said,  "Geologists  find  e\idence  of 
great  structural  changes." 

But  as  soon  as  we  pass  south  of  the  equator 
we  find  simpler  formations,  wide  areas  of  the 
same  geological  age,  and  a  difference  in  arrange- 
ment and  structure.    Let  us  quote  from  different 


THE   THIllD   DAY.  125 

authors  brief  statements  illustrating  this  fact. 
"  The  stratigraphy  of  South  America  is  very 
simple.  The  same  groups  of  rocks  spread  over 
vast  areas."  "  There  is  here  no  sequence,  as  in 
North  America,  of  Azoic,  Silurian,  Devonian, 
and  Carl)ouiferous  formations,  shored  up 
against  each  other  by  the  gradual  upheaval  of 
the  continent."!  Of  Africa  we  read,  "Few 
geological  changes  have  occurred  in  this  the 
most  conservative  of  all  the  continents."  "  The 
Mesozoic  age  is  strongly  represented."  "Ac- 
cording to  Murchison,  the  geology  of  South 
Africa  is  unique.  No  fossils  are  found,  save  of 
species  now  living  in  that  region.  The  rocks 
are  of  Secondary  age  and  have  never  since  been 
submerged."  Of  Australia  we  read,  "  The  geol- 
ogy of  this  vast  region  has  not  been  fully  ex- 
plored, but  is  supposed  to  be  remarkably  simple. 
It  consists  of  a  great  central  Tertiary  formation, 
surrounded  on  all  sides  Ijy  plutonic  and  meta- 
morphic  rocks."  This  simplicity  of  structure 
of  the  southern  countries  is  in  strong  contrast 
with  the  complex  formation  of  lands  north  of 
the  equator — no  encyclopedist  venturing  to 
give  in  a  single  view  the  geology  of  either 
Europe  or  Asia. 

Another  marked  peculiarity  of  structure  in 
the  southern  hemisphere  is  the  uniformity  of 
the  surface,  the  prevalence  of  plains  and  table- 
lands, and  the  small  proportion  of  mountainous 
!  A  Journey  in  Brazil,  Agassiz,  p.  407. 


126  GENESIS   AND    MODERN    SCIENCE. 

regions  as  comiiared  with  similar  areas  in  the 
northern  countries.  The  great  central  plain  of 
South  America  occupies  about  one-half  of  that 
continent.  It  is  divided  into  the  i^ampas  of 
Buenos  Ayres,  having  an  area  of  315,000  square 
miles;  the  silvas  of  the  Amazon,  which  are 
about  1,500  miles  long  and  from  350  to  800 
miles  wide ;  and  the  llanos  of  the  Orinoco,  having 
an  area  of  153,000  square  miles.  Besides  these 
is  the  desert  of  Patagonia,  covering  100,000 
square  miles.  Of  Africa  we  read,  "  The  entire 
southern  half  of  Africa  consists  of  an  immense 
plateau."  Of  Australia  we  read,  "  The  central 
part  is  an  immense  plain  or  low  table-land." 
"Australia  is  an  immense  barren  plain  rising 
gradually  to  the  low  coast  mountain-ranges." 

This  peculiarity  is  not  confined  to  southern 
land-surfaces,  but  it  also  characterizes  the  sea- 
bottom  of  the  southern  oceans.  North  of  the 
equator  the  configuration  of  the  ocean-bed  pre- 
sents features  corresponding  to  those  of  the 
surfaces  of  the  continents.  There  are  abysmal 
depths,  steep,  abrupt  declivities,  long  valleys. 
But  in  the  southern  seas  the  ocean-bed  is  very 
different.  Like  the  southern  land-surfaces,  it  is 
more  uniform  and  level.  "  In  the  vicinity  of 
the  equator,  in  the  South  Atlantic  Ocean,  Cap- 
tain Shortland  found  a  plateau  extending  about 
3,000  miles  in  a  north  and  south  direction,  but 
its  extent  in  an  east  and  west  direction  is  not 
known.    No  such  plateau  has  yet  been  found  in 


THE   THIRD    DAY.  127 

the  exploration  of  the  sea-bed  of  northern 
oceans."  "  In  opening  the  Geographical  Section 
of  the  British  Association  at  Glasgow,  Captain 
Evans  said  tiiat  it  was  learned  for  the  first  time 
by  the  ChaUoiger^s  results,  ably  supplemented  as 
they  had  recently  been  by  the  action  of  the 
United  States  government  in  the  Pacific,  and 
by  an  admirable  series  of  soundings  made  in 
the  exploratory  German  ship  of  war  Gazelle, 
that  the  unbroken  range  of  ocean  in  the  southern 
hemisphere  was  much  shallower  than  the  north- 
ern seas ;  that  it  had  no  features  approaching  in 
character  those  grand  abysmal  depths  of  27,000 
and  23,500  feet,  found  respectively  in  the  North 
Pacific  and  North  Atlantic  oceans,^  as  the  great- 
est reliable  depths  recorded  did  not  exceed 
17,000  feet.  The  extended  surface  of  the  sea- 
bed presented  in  general  to  the  eye,  when  graph- 
ically rendered  on  charts  by  contour  lines  of 
equal  soundings,  vast  plateaus  varied  with  the 

^  Rear-Admiral  Belknap,  U.  S.  X.,  in  his  survey  of 
the  ocean-bed  for  a  cable  route  from  California  to  Yo- 
kohama, found  depths  in  the  Pacific  Ocean  of  5^  miles, 
the  deepest  water  yet  found.  One  cast  was  4,643  fath- 
oms, when  the  wire  broke  without  reaching  bottom 
{Poptihir  Science  Montlihj,  vol.  xxxviii.,  p.  r)G6), 

"  The  results  of  the  Challenger  and  earlier  soundings, 
combined  together,  give  for  the  mean  depth  of  the 
North  Atlantic  about  2,600  fathoms ;  for  the  South 
Atlantic  about  1.900  fatlioms;  for  the  equatorial  At- 
lantic, 2,000  fathoms "'  ( Worhl  Life,  Winchelh  p.  460). 


128  GENESIS   AND   MODEEN    SCIENCE. 

gentlest  undulations."^  Why  this  singular 
coincidence  between  the  land-surfaces  and 
ocean-bed  of  the  southern  hemisphere !  On  my 
theory  it  is  explainable.  I  do  not  know  of  any 
other  which  can  account  for  it. 

The  same  peculiarities  of  structure  are  seen 
in  the  icebergs  of  the  north  polar  and  south 
jDolar  regions  when  compared  with  each  other. 
These  bergs  give  some  indication  of  the  surface 
of  the  lands  lying  about  the  north  and  south 
poles.  The  Antarctic  continent  is  3,000  miles 
across,  and  it  is  estiniated  that  the  south  polar 
ice-cap  cannot  be  less  than  3  miles,  and  may  be 
12  miles,  thick.2 

Dr.  Croll  says:  "The  Antarctic  regions  are 
probably  low  and  flat.  The  icebergs  of  the 
southern  ocean  are  almost  all  of  the  tabular 
form,  and  their  surface  is  perfectly  level  and 
parallel  with  the  surface  of  the  sea.  The  ice- 
bergs are  all  stratified,  the  stratifications  run- 
ning parallel  with  the  surface  of  the  berg.  The 
stratified  beds,  as  we  may  call  them,  are  sepa- 
rated from  each  other  by  a  well-marked  blue 
band.  These  blue  lines  or  bands,  as  Sir  Wy- 
ville  Thomson  remarks,  are  the  sections  of 
sheets  of  clear  ice,  while  the  white  intervening 
spaces  between  them  are  the  sections  of  layers 
of  ice  where  the  particles  are  not  in  so  close 
contact,  and  probably  contain  some  air.     The 

^   PopnJar  Scie)ice  Monthhj,  vol.  x.,  p.  250. 
-  Ihid.,  vol.  xxxviii.,  p.  521. 


THE   THIRD    DAY.  129 

blue  bands,  as  Sir  Wyville  suggests,  probably 
represent  portions  of  the  snow  surface  which, 
during  the  heat  of  summer,  become  partially 
melted  and  re-frozen  into  compact  ice,  while  the 
intervening  white  portions  represent  the  snow 
of  the  greater  part  of  the  year,  which,  of  course, 
would  become  converted  into  ice  without  ever 
being  actually  melted.  It  is  therefore  more 
than  probable  that  each  bed,  with  its  corre- 
sponding blue  band,  may  represent  the  forma- 
tion of  one  year.  Judging  from  the  number  of 
these  layers  in  an  iceberg,  some  of  these  bergs 
must  be  of  immense  age,  occupying  a  period 
probably  of  several  thousand  years  in  their 
formation."  ^ 

"  The  icebergs  all  seem  to  bear  the  mark  of 
their  original  structure,  and  the  horizontal 
stratifications  appear  never  to  have  been  mate- 
rially altered."  - 

"  There  cannot  be  a  shadow  of  a  doubt  that 
these  thin,  horizontal  bands  of  clear  blue  ice, 
with  their  less  dense  and  white  intervening 
beds,  are  the  original  structure  of  the  bergs. 
And  it  is  evident  that  if  the  ice  had  crossed 
mountain-ridges,  valleys,  or  other  obstructions 
in  the  course  of  its  journey  from  the  interior, 
these  beds  could  not  have  avoided  being  crushed, 
fractured,  broken  up,  and  mixed  together."  '-^ 

^  Climate  and  Cosmology,  p.  70. 
-  IhifL,  p.  72. 
3  Ibid.,  p.  73. 


130  GENESIS    AND   MODERN    SCIENCE. 

"  The  tabular  form  and  flat-toiDped  character 
of  the  icebergs,  with  their  peii'ectly  horizontal 
bedding,  show  that  they  have  been  formed  on  a 
flat  and  even  surface.  They  show  also  that  this 
flat  surface  is  not  a  mere  local  condition,  but 
that  it  must  be  the  general  character  of  the 
Antarctic  land.  The  unaltered  character  of  the 
stratification  of  the  bergs  shows  that  there  can 
be  no  great  mountain-ranges,  or  even  much 
rough  or  uneven  ground."  i 

In  striking  contrast  with  these  are  the  Arctic 
icebergs.  "  The  icebergs  of  Greenland  are  not 
of  the  tabular  form  and  stratified.  The  Grreen- 
land  ice  is  discharged  through  narrow  fjords, 
which  completely  destroy  the  original  horizontal 
stratification."  '^ 

"No  icebergs  over  300  feet  in  height  have 
been  found  in  Arctic  regions,  whereas  in  Ant- 
arctic regions  icebergs  of  twice  and  even  thrice 
that  height  have  been  reported."  ^ 

From  publications  of  the  Board  of  Trade,  Dr. 
CroU  gives  a  list  of  icebergs  seen  in  the  southern 
ocean,  which,  with  one  or  two  exceptions,  were 
accurately  determined  by  angular  measure- 
ments. The  following  are  a  few  of  the  most 
striking  instances. 

1  Cliwate  and  Cosmology,  p.  74.  The  Antarctic  con- 
tinent (7,000,000  square  miles)  is,  therefore,  to  be 
added  to  the  vast  southern  plains  iianied  on  page  126. 

'■^  Climate  and  Cosmology,  p.  73. 

3  Climate  and  Time,  p.  381. 


THE   TUnW    DAY.  131 

°»'^-  ^^"P  Lat.  S.  Height. 

Fob.,  ISGO,  Lightning,  550  20'  500  IVct 

Dec,  1<S59,  Edward,  50°  52',  580  " 

Jan.,  ]8G7,  Scout,  (500  a 

Apr.,  18G4,  Royal  Standard,  600  " 

Dec,  18G1,'  Queen  of  Nature,  53°  45',  720  " 

Dec,  185G,  Ellen  Radford,  52°  31',  800  " 

Mar.,  1855,  Agneta,  53°  14',  9C0  " 

Aug.,  1840,  General  Baron  von  Geen,      37°  32',  1,000  " 

"  In  the  regions  where  most  of  these  icebergs 
were  seen  the  density  of  the  sea  is  1.0256,  and 
the  density  of  the  ice  is  .92.  Therefore  every 
foot  of  ice  above  water  indicates  8.7  feet  below 
water.  The  iceberg  sighted  by  the  Agnefa  was 
consequently  9,312  feet  thick,  which  is  more 
than  If  miles.  This  shows  how  thick  the  edge 
of  the  Antarctic  ice-cap  must  be."  ^ 

In  one  book  showing  the  physical  geography 
of  the  different  continents  the  following  sum- 
mary is  given :  "  North  America.  Outline  ir- 
regular ;  coast-line  penetrated  by  large  gulfs  and 
bays.  Europe.  Outline  irregular;  coast-line 
broken  by  inland  seas  and  numerous  inlets  of 

1  ''  London,  April  2,  1893.  Captain  Lillia,  of  the 
ship  John  Cooke,  which  sailed  from  San  Francisco  on 
November  1  and  reached  Queenstown  to-day,  reports 
that  on  the  night  of  January  14  he  saw  a  full-rio-ged 
ship  sailing  among  fifty  icebergs.  Her  destruction,  he 
says,  was  inevitable.  The  JoJm  Cooke  got  clear  of  the 
bergs  after  many  hom-s  of  peril  and  several  narrow 
escapes.  Captain  Lilha  estimates  the  length  of  the 
largest  iceberg  as  15  miles,  and  the  lieiglit  as  700  feet." 

"  Queenstown,  April  7, 1891.     The  British  ship  Fid- 


132  GENESIS   AND   MODERN   SCIENCE. 

the  ocean.  Asia.  Outline  irregnlar ;  large  seas 
and  gulfs  breaking  the  coast-line."  Passing  to 
the  southern  continents,  we  find :  "  South 
America.  OutUne  very  regular;  coast-line 
comparatively  unbroken.  Africa.  Outline 
regular ;  no  seas,  gulfs,  or  bays  extend  into  the 
interior.  Australia  has  a  regular  outline;  no 
seas,  gulfs,  or  bays  penetrate  very  far  into  the 
interior." 

"  The  continental  masses  are  distributed  in 
three  principal  groups,  one  feature  in  the  con- 
figuration of  which  must  strike  every  one  who 
carefully  examines  a  map  of  the  world.  It  will 
be  noticed  that  they  are  so  expanded  toward  the 
north  as  to  toueli  in  that  direction,  or  are  sepa- 
rated only  by  narrow  passages,  and  that  they 
also  surround  within  the  Arctic  circle  a  central 
polar  sea  with  a  bordering  island  belt.  Going 
down  toward  the  south,  we  find  that  the  three 
continents,  North  America,  Europe,  and  north- 
ern Asia,  which  had  approached  each  other  so 
closely,  give  place  to  three  appendages.  South 
America,  Africa,  and  Australia,  which  in  their 

ivood,  which  arrived  here  yesterday  from  San  Francisco, 
reports  that  during  four  days  in  the  month  of  January, 
while  in  the  South  Atlantic  Ocean,  she  was  completely 
encircled  by  icebergs,  some  of  which  were  6  miles  in 
length  and  600  feet  high.  At  one  time  four  hundred 
and  fifteen  icebergs  were  visible,  and  it  was  only  by  the 
greatest  care  that  disaster  to  the  ship  was  averted.  The 
Fulivood  left  San  Francisco  November  7  last." 


i    > 


/ 


SOUTH   AMERICA. 


AUSTRALIA. 


THE   THIED   DAY.  133 

turn  gradually  taper  off  to  mere  points  in  an 
illimitable  sea,  long  before  they  reach  the  Ant- 
arctic circle.  Within  this  circle  the  configura- 
tion of  the  land  is  precisely  the  reverse  of  that 
in  the  north;  it  is  that  of  a  solid  cap  of  land 
around  the  pole,  in  the  midst  of  the  great 
ocean."  ^ 

These  three  southern  appendages  of  the  north- 
ern continental  masses  are  themselves  conti- 
nental, but  in  their  general  outline  are  also 
peninsular.  South  America  and  Africa  are 
connected  with  the  northern  continents  by  the 
Isthmus  of  Panama  and  the  Isthmus  of  Suez 
respectively,  while  Australia  is  linked  to  the 
main-land  by  a  chain  of  islands  called  collect- 
ively the  Sunda  Islands.  These  three  southern 
continents  have  a  wonderful  similarity  in  shape. 
South  America  and  Africa  have  in  the  northern 
half  an  approximately  ovoid  shape,  from  which 
part  a  triangular  portion  extends  southerly. 
Australia  has  the  same  general  egg  shape, 
and  if  it  be  connected  with  Tasmania  we  find 
again  the  triangular  extension  j:)ointing  south- 
ward. If,  however,  we  consider  it  in  connection 
with  New  Zealand  and  in  view  of  the  ocean- 
depths  in  the  immediate  vicinity,  the  result,  as 
indicated  in  the  outhne  figures  upon  the  oppo- 
site page,  is  more  remarkable  still.     In  each 

1  Paradise  Found,  p,  439,  quoting  Marquis  G.  de 
Saporta.  Translated  for  the  Popular  Science  Monthly 
from  the  Reinie  des  Deux  Mondes. 


134  GENESIS   AND   MODERN    SCIENCE. 

case  there  is  a  large  rounded  portion  in  t1ie 
north  extending  westerly,  a  sharp  j^oint  extend- 
ing easterly,  formed  by  the  intersection  of 
north-east  and  south-east  coast-lines,  and  a 
narrowing  extension  soutlierl}^  Even  in  so 
small  a  detail  as  the  indentation  on  the  northern 
coast  of  each  of  these  continents,  there  is  a  simi- 
larity in  outline  between  the  Gulf  of  Carpentaria 
of  Australia  and  the  ancient  Syrtis  Major  and 
Syrtis  Minor  of  Africa  and  the  Amazon  mouths 
of  South  America. 

This  massing  of  land  northward  toward  the 
north  pole,  this  tapering  of  land  southward  to- 
ward the  south  pole,  the  thrusting  eastward  of 
the  sharp  noses  of  the  three  southern  continents, 
and  their  occipital  protuberances  westward  are 
so  striking  and  characteristic  as  to  indicate 
some  general  plan  or  purpose,  whatever  the 
explanation  may  be. 

We  have  thus  considered  the  great  differences 
]3etween  the  northern  and  southern  hemispheres, 
which  existed  from  the  earliest  geological  ages 
and  which  are  now  existing.  Professor  Dana, 
most  eminent  of  American  geologists,  has  re- 
cently said  :  "I  find  no  explanation  in  the  present 
state  of  science  wherefore  most  of  the  dry  land 
of  the  globe  should  have  been  located  about  the 
north  pole,  and  of  the  water  about  the  south. 
Physicists  say  that  it  indicates  greater  attrac- 
tion, and  therefore  a  greater  density  in  the  solid 
material  beneath  the  southern  ocean.    But  why 


THE    THIKD   DAY.  135 

the  mineral  ingredients  should  have  been  so 
gatliered  about  the  south  pole  as  to  give  the 
crust  there  greater  density  is  the  unanswered 
query."  ^  It  is  thus  apj^arent  that  these  diver- 
sities between  the  northern  and  southern  hemi- 
spheres have  been  the  subject  of  profound  study, 
but  that  no  satisfactory  conclusion  has  here- 
tofore been  reached.  The  theory  set  forth  in 
these  pages  seems  to  give  the  true  solution  to 
this  difficult  problem. 

But  many  and  great  as  are  the  proofs  which 
I  have  massed  about  this  portion  of  my  argu- 
ment,— relating  as  they  do  to  the  past  and 
present  structure  of  the  northern  and  southern 
countries,  their  fossil  flora  and  fauna,  their  sur- 
face and  outline, — there  are  astronomical  proofs 
of  planetary  polar  exposures  to  the  sun  which 
constitute  a  most  interesting  and  substantial 
corroboration  of  my  proposition.  The  discus- 
sion of  these  will  constitute  the  next  chapter. 

^  Paradise  Found,  p.  323,  quoting  American  Journal 
of  Science,  vol.  xxi. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

THE  THIRD  DAY  (Continneci). 

In  Chapter  VI.  reference  was  made  to  the  fact 
that  the  moon  always  presents  the  same  side  to 
the  earth.  This  seems  to  be  a  common  phe- 
nomenon of  the  rotation  of  satelhtes  around 
their  primaries.  If  the  same  can  be  shown  to 
be  true  of  one  or  more  of  the  planets  of  our 
system  in  the  relation  thereof  to  the  sun,  then 
surely  it  is  possible  that  the  earth  may  have 
revolved  around  the  sun  with  the  same  side 
always  presented  thereto. 

In  discussing  the  nebular  hypothesis  it  was 
said  that  when  the  nebulous  ring  was  detached 
from  the  central  mass,  it  revolved  in  the  same 
plane  and  about  the  same  axial  line  as  the  cen- 
tral mass,  and  that  when  the  ring  collapsed  and 
formed  a  spheroidal  planetary  body,  it  revolved 
in  the  same  plane  as  before,  but  ui)on  an  axis 
of  its  own.  This  axis,  therefore,  would  be  per- 
pendicular to  the  plane  of  the  orbit.  Althongh 
such  was  the  axial  direction  of  the  early  planet- 

13G 


THE   THIKD   DAY.  137 

avy  masses,  no  two  of  tliem  are  now  alike  as  to 
the  inclination  of  their  axes  to  their  respective 
orbits.  This  variety  of  inclination  shows  that 
they  have  been  snbjeet  to  the  power  of  gravita- 
tion and  have  assnmed  their  present  j)ositions 
on  account  of  their  respective  changes  in  the 
center  of  gravity.  As  their  crusts  have  thick- 
ened and  have  been  irregularly  disposed  in 
relation  to  their  original  centers  of  gravity,  so 
losing  the  true  spheroidal  form,  their  protuber- 
ant or  heavier  sides  have  fallen  toward  the  sun. 
Jupiter,  the  largest  of  the  planets,  and  therefore 
presumably  the  least  developed,  has  its  axis  of 
rotation  nearly  perpendicular  to  the  plane  of  its 
orbit  (3°  .04').  Saturn,  a  smaller  planet,  and 
presumably  more  developed  than  Jupiter,  has 
found  its  equilibrium  at  an  angle  of  26°  50'  to 
the  plane  of  its  orbit.  Venus  is  so  near  the  sun 
that  its  rotation  and  the  position  of  its  axis  can- 
not be  easily  determined,  but  Cassini,  Bianchini, 
and  Schroter  said  that  its  axis  of  rotation  forms 
an  angle  of  only  16°  with  the  plane  of  its  orbit. 

Professor  Richard  A.  Proctor,  the  distin- 
guished astronomer,  says,  "  The  axis  of  Uranus 
lies  very  nearly  in  the  plane  wherein  the  planet 
moves  around  the  sun."  ■ 

The  Eucydopccdia  Britannica  (ninth  edition), 
a  conservative  authority,  contains  an  interesting 
plate  ^  showing  at  a  glance  the  inclination  of  the 

^  Guillemin's  Ilea  reus. 

-  Article  "  Astrouomy." 


138  GENESIS   AND   MODEKN    SCIENCE. 

axes  of  the  several  planets  to  their  orbital  planes. 
This  plate  I  have  taken  the  liberty  of  copying 
and  inserting  in  this  place.  An  examination 
will  prove  it  to  be  very  instructive.  The  page 
itself  represents  the  orbital  plane  as  viewed  from 
a  point  perpendicularly  above.  It  will  be  seen 
that  the  axis  of  the  planet  Uranus  is  represented 
as  coincident  with  the  orbital  plane.  If  the 
poles  of  Uranus  now  lie  in  the  plane  of  its  orbit, 
so  also  the  poles  of  the  earth  may  once  have 
been  in  the  plane  of  its  orbit,  the  ecliptic.  If 
this  one  fact  is  conceded,  the  scientific  accuracy 
of  the  first  chapter  of  Genesis  is  practically  es- 
tablished. 

Since  the  preceding  paragraphs  were  written 
there  have  appeared  two  remarkable  articles  in 
current  literature  which  are  of  great  importance 
in  this  connection. 

The  first  was  written  by  Schiaparelli,  of  the 
observatory  of  Milan,  Italy,  who  is  justly  re- 
garded as  one  of  the  most  eminent  of  astrono- 
mers.i  It  is  entitled  "  Scenes  in  the  Planet 
Mercury."  2 

He  says  that  a  telescopic  examination  of  Mer- 

1  It  was  Schiaparelli  who  first  descril)ed  the  canals 
(channels)  of  Mars.  He  also  first  announced  that 
shooting-stars  are  the  Avreckage  of  comets  and  follow 
the  orbits  of  the  comets  respectively. 

-  Popular  Science  Monthly^  vol.  xxxvii.,  p.  G4,  a  trans- 
lation from  del  ct  Terre. 


o 


THE   THIED   DAY.  139 

oury  is  very  difficult.  The  little  we  have  here- 
tofore known  of  this  planet  is  derived  from  the 
observations  made  a  hundred  years  ago  by 
Schroter  with  the  imperfect  instruments  of  that 
time.  Mercury  describes  a  small  orbit  around 
the  sun,  and  is  never  seen  so  far  from  it  as  to 
permit  an  observation  in  temperate  latitudes  in 
the  full  darkness  of  night.  It  can  seldom  be 
observed  in  the  morning  or  evening  twilight,  as 
it  is  then  so  near  the  horizon  and  so  affected  by 
the  agitation  and  unequal  refraction  of  the  lower 
strata  of  the  atmosphere  that  it  usually  has  in 
the  telescope  an  uncertain  and  flaring  aspect, 
which  appears  to  the  naked  eye  as  a  strong 
scintillation.  The  ancients  therefore  called  it 
Stilhon,  the  scintillating  star. 

Schiaparelli  resorted  to  observations  of  this 
planet  in  broad  daylight,  in  the  immediate 
presence  of  the  sun,  and  in  a  highly  luminous 
atmosphere.  Beginning  these  efforts  in  1881,  he 
became  satisfied  that  valuable  results  (L'ould  be 
thus  obtained.  In  1882  he  began  a  regular  study 
of  the  planet,  and  in  the  next  eight  years  suc- 
ceeded in  bringing  his  telescope  to  bear  upon  it 
several  hundred  times,  often,  indeed,  with  but 
little  profit ;  but  by  patience  he  has  been  able  to 
see  the  spots  upon  the  planet  with  more  or  less 
precision  one  hundred  and  fifty  times,  and  to 
make  fairly  satisfactory  drawings  of  them. 

He  found  its  rotation  very  different  from 
what  had   been   supposed.     Mercury  revolves 


140  GENESIS   AND    MODERN    SCIENCE. 

around  the  sun  in  the  same  manner  in  which 
the  moon  revolves  around  the  earth.  As  the 
moon  always  shows  nearly  the  same  face  to  the 
earth,  so  Mercury  in  traversing  its  orbit  con- 
stantly presents  nearly  the  same  hemisphere  to 
the  sun — nearly,  but  not  exactly  the  same,  for, 
like  the  moon,  it  is  sulgect  to  liljration.  It  con- 
stantly directs  one  of  its  diameters,  not  toward 
that  focus  of  its  elhptical  orbit  which  is  occupied 
by  the  sun,  but  toward  the  second  focus.  These 
foci  are  distant  from  each  other  about  one-fifth 
of  the  whole  diameter  of  the  orbit.  Hence  the 
libration  of  the  planet  is  enormous. 

The  point  which  receives  the  rays  of  the  sun 
vertically  changes  its  position  on  the  planet  and 
performs  an  oscillatory  movement  along  the 
equator  47°  in  amplitude,  or  through  more  than 
one-eighth  of  the  equatorial  circumference.  The 
whole  duration  of  this  oscillation,  back  and 
forth,  is  equal  to  the  time  occupied  by  Mercury 
in  traversing  its  orljit,  or  about  eighty-eight 
terrestrial  days.  "Thus  Mercury  stands  ori- 
ented toward  the  sun  like  a  magnet  toward  a 
mass  of  iron  ;  but  the  orientation  is  not  constant 
to  the  point  of  excluding  a  movement  of  oscil- 
lation to  the  east  and  to  the  west,  like  that 
which  the  moon  presents  to  us." 

"This  oscillation  is  of  great  importance  for 
the  physical  condition  of  the  planet.  Suppose, 
for  instance,  that  it  did  not  exist,  and  that 
Mercury  always  turned  the  same  heniisphere  to 


THE   THIED   DAY.  141 

the  light  and  lieat  of  the  sun,  the  other  hemi- 
sphere remaining  plunged  in  perpetual  night. 
The  point  of  the  surface  situated  at  the  central 
pole  of  the  illuminated  hemisphere  would  have 
the  sun  eternally  in  the  zenith ;  the  other  points 
of  the  planet  accessible  to  the  solar  rays  would 
have  the  sun  always  at  the  same  point  in  their 
horizon,  at  the  same  height,  without  any  appar- 
ent movement,!  without  any  perceptible  change ; 
consequently,  no  alternation  of  day  or  night,  no 
v^ariety  of  seasons,  the  stars  eternally  invisible 
because  of  the  perpetual  i^resence  of  the  sun ; 
and,  Mercury  having  no  moon,  we  can  hardly 
imagine  how  the  inhabitants  of  those  regions, 
condemned  to  an  endless  day,  would  find  a 
means  of  regularly  computing  time." 

To  an  observer  on  the  surface  of  the  planet 
the  oscillating  movement  would,  of  course,  ap- 
pear to  be  of  the  sun  itself,  which  apparently 
swings  back  and  forth  through  an  arc  of  47° ; 
but  the  position  of  this  arc  in  relation  to  the 
horizon  is  always  the  same.  Thus,  according 
to  the  j)osition  of  the  observer,  there  is  a 
variety  of  appearances,  as  also  a  difference 
in  the  distribution  of  light  and  heat.     A  por- 

1  Althoiigli  the  period  called  ''  the  third  day "  was 
prior  to  the  creation  of  man,  yet  it  is  a  curious  fact 
that  "  the  Aztecs  said  that  when  the  sun  had  risen  for 
the  first  time,  at  the  beginning,  it  lay  on  the  horizon 
and  moved  not"  {Pairiilise  Found,  p.  196,  quoting  Dor- 
man,  Frhuiih'e  Superstitions,  p.  330). 


142  GENESIS   AND   MODEEN    SCIENCE. 

tion  equal  to  three-eighths  of  its  surface  has 
the  arc  of  osciUation  ahvays  above  the  horizon, 
and  that  part,  therefore,  has  perpetual  sunshine, 
l)ut  the  obliquity  of  the  sohir  rays  varies.  Night 
is  impossible  there.  Another  region  constitut- 
ing three-eighths  of  the  surface  of  the  planet 
has  the  arc  of  oscillation  always  below  the  hori- 
zon. There  the  sun  never  shines  and  the  thick 
night  is  continual.  The  remaining  quarter  part 
of  the  surface  has  the  arc  of  oscillation  partly 
above  and  partly  below  the  horizon,  and  so 
enjoys  intervals  of  light  and  darkness. 

Organic  life  might  exist  upon  a  planet  so 
constituted  if  there  were  an  atmosphere  capable 
of  distributing  heat  into  different  regions  so 
as  to  diminish  the  extremes  of  temperature. 
Schroter  a  hundred  years  ago  suspected  that 
Mercury  had  an  atmosphere.  Schiaparelli  con- 
firms this  view  with  much  probability.  The 
spots  on  the  planet  are  more  clearly  visible  in 
the  central  parts  of  the  disk,  and  become  dim- 
mer as  they  approach  the  border.  Peculiarities 
of  appearance  seem  explainable  on  the  theory 
of  the  existence  of  clouds.  The  dark  spots  have 
a  warm  brown  tint  like  sepia.  The  general 
color  of  the  planet  is  a  clear  rose  bordering  on 
copper.  The  light  and  heat  of  the  sun  are  more 
intense  than  on  the  earth.  JMei-cury,  by  direct- 
ing the  same  face  toward  the  sun  during  its 
whole  revolution,  is  distinguished  from  the  other 
planets,  whose  rotation  has  been  determined  and 


THE   THIllD   DAY.  143 

which  turn  upon  their  axes  in  a  few  hours. 
This  mode  of  rotation  is  unique  among  the 
planets,  but  is  connnon  among  the  satellites. 
Our  moon  has  always  conformed  to  it.  Recent 
observations  demonstrate  that  the  fourth  satel- 
lite of  Jupiter  moves  in  this  way,  and  it  is 
probable  that  the  first  three  do  also.  Cassini 
has  verified  the  same  of  Japhet,  the  eighth  sat- 
ellite of  Saturn.  It  may  therefore  be  considered 
the  rule  among  satellites,  while  it  is  an  exception 
among  the  planets. 

The  second  article  to  which  reference  is  made 
is  a  translation  from  Cosmos  (Paris),  of  February 
8, 1896,^  giving  an  account  of  observations  of  the 
planet  Venus  lately  made  by  Tacchini,  the 
director  of  the  observatory  at  the  College  of 
Rome. 

It  was  formerly  believed  that  Venus  rotated 
upon  its  axis  once  in  about  twenty-four  hours, 
like  the  earth.  Several  years  ago  Schiaparelli 
concluded  from  his  observations  that  its  rota- 
tion is  once  in  two  hundred  and  twenty-four 
days  (which  is  its  year),  and  that  it  always  turns 
the  same  face  to  the  snn,  as  the  moon  does  to 
the  earth.     Tacchini  confirms  this  opinion. 

The  difficulty  of  observing  Venus  is  because 
of  its  bright  light  and  its  dense  atmosphere. 
But  it  is  now  determined  that  its  rotation  is 
extremely  slow  and  prqbably  equal  to  its  side- 
real period  of  revolution.  Well-defined,  large 
1  The  Literary  Digest,  March  14,  189G. 


144  GENESIS   AND    MODERN    SCIENCE. 

spots,  sliaped  much  like  continental  masses,  have 
been  discovered  and  watclied  for  hours.  If  the 
planet  revolves  on  its  axis  in  twenty-four  hours 
of  our  time,  these  spots  should  move  through  a 
visual  angle  of  90°  in  six  and  one-quarter 
hours,  and  so  change  in  appearance.  In  fact, 
however,  these  spots  retain  their  position  and 
identity  of  form  through  all  that  period,  and 
hence  it  is  proved  that  the  planet  does  not 
appreciably  rotate  in  that  time. 

Tacchini  has  remarked  that  in  the  planets 
which  have  a  dense  atmosphere  and  a  rapid 
rotation  the  dark  and  light  cloud-bands  are  all 
parallel  with  each  other,  but  at  a  right  angle  to 
the  axis  of  rotation.  Jupiter  presents  this  ap- 
pearance most  plainly.  But  in  Venus  tlie 
clouds  are  not  in  bands.  They  are  very  un- 
evenly distriljuted  and  often  lie  in  the  direction 
of  the  axis  of  the  planet.  This  seems  to  prove 
that  the  rotation  of  Venus  is  extremely  slow, 
and  goes  far  to  confirm  the  opinion  that  its  axial 
and  orbital  movements  are  in  equal  times. 

Still  more  recently  these  opinions  have  re- 
ceived further  confirmation.  In  December,  189G, 
Mr.  Percival  Lowell,  who  had  been  making  ex- 
tensive observations  at  the  Lowell  Observatory 
at  Flagstaff,  Arizona,  removed  his  telescope  to 
Tacubaya,  Mexico.  This  telescope  is  one  of  the 
largest  in  the  world  and  has  a  magnifying  ca- 
pacity of  2,000  diameters.  Many  observations 
of  Venus  and  Mercury  have   been  made  and 


THE   THIRD   DAY.  145 

sliown  by  sketches.  These  fully  confirm  his 
former  deductions  at  Flagstaff.  The  planets 
rotate  only  once  in  the  full  course  of  orbital 
revolution  around  the  sun,  the  faces  thus  turned 
toward  that  orb  enjoying  perpetual  day,  while 
the  farther  sides  are  wrapped  in  endless  night 
Professor  See,  who  has  assisted  in  these  ob, 
servations,  writes  in  Popular  Astroiwnii/ :  ^  "  Mr 
Lowell's  recent  observations  of  Venus  and  Mer. 
cury,  and  the  important  conclusions  he  has  been 
enabled  to  draw  from  them,  possess  a  very  high 
interest  for  astronomers  who  are  concerned  with 
physical  causes  which  have  operated  in  past 
ages  and  thus  shaped  the  phenomena  now  ob- 
served in  the  solar  system."  There  is  "  definite 
observational  proof  that  these  two  planets  rotate 
once  only  in  the  course  of  their  orbital  motions 
about  the  sun,  and  thus  show  one  hemisphere 
only  toward  that  body.  .  .  .  The  credit  for  tlie 
establishment  of  these  important  facts  of  ob- 
servation may  be  divided  between  the  illustri- 
ous Italian  astronomer,  M.  Schiaparelli,  and  Mr. 
Lowell ;  the  former  being  the  first  to  re-examine 
the  long-accepted  but  erroneous  rotation  jieriods 
of  these  planets,  and  to  render  the  present  re- 
sults highly  probable;  the  latter  being  the  first 
to  furnish  a  decisive  proof  that  no  other  periods 
than  those  of  the  sidereal  revolutions  could  ac- 
count for  the  observed  phenomena.  .  .  .  Lowell's 

^  April,  1897,  quoted  iu  The  Literary  Digest,  April 
24,  1897. 


146  GENESIS   AND   MODEKN   SCIENCE. 

work  on  the  physical  features  of  Venus  has  also 
thrown  much  light  on  the  general  character  of 
the  planet's  surface,  and  enabled  us  for  the  first 
time  to  construct  a  fairly  accurate  map  of  the 
hemisphere  illuminated  by  the  sun." 

It  seems  certain,  therefore,  that  three  of  the 
planets  of  our  system,  and  several  (perhaps  all) 
of  the  satellites,  perforin  their  orbital  journeys 
with  the  same  hemisphere  toward  the  sun,  or 
toward  the  piimary,  as  the  case  may  l^e.  It  is 
therefore  possible  and  (from  the  evidence  already 
presented)  probable  that  the  earth  once  moved 
in  its  orbit  with  its  northern  hemisphere  con- 
tinually turned  toward  the  sun. 

Herodotus  mentions  an  old  tradition  of  the 
Egyptians  that  the  ecliptic  was  once  perpendic- 
ular to  the  equator,  and  the  Chaldeans  also 
held  the  same  opinion.^ 

"The  Bushmen  of  South  Africa  have  the 
strange  idea  that  the  sun  did  not  shine  on  their 
country  in  the  l)eginning.  Only  after  the  chil- 
dren of  the  first  Bushmen  had  been  sent  up  to 
the  (northern I)  top  of  the  world,  and  had 
launched  the  sun,  was  light  procured  for  this 
South  African  region"  (Bushmen  Folh-Jore). 
"  A  similar  myth  was  found  among  the  Austra- 
lian aborigines."  - 

In  order  to  show  that  the  foregoing  proposi- 
tions have  seemed  reasonable  to  more  competent 

1  CJiamhers's  Encyclopedia,  article  "Ecliptic." 
-  Paradise  Found,  p.  200. 


THE   THIRD   DAY.  147 

thinkers,  I  deem  it  useful,  before  passing  to  au- 
otlier  topic  in  this  discussion,  to  refer  to  several 
writers  who  have  propounded  similar  theories. 
Although  this  hypothesis  is  original  with  me, 
and  was  formed  without  any  knowledge  of  the 
opinions  of  others  on  the  subject,  it  has,  in 
common  with  other  theories,  the  essential  idea 
of  a  change  in  the  direction  of  the  earth's 
axis  of  rotation.  M  Mangiu,  in  writing  of  the 
glacial  period  and  its  causes,  says :  "  The  most 
violent  convulsions  of  the  solid  and  liquid 
elements  appear  to  have  been  themselves  only 
the  effects  due  to  a  cause  much  more  powerful 
than  the  mere  expansion  of  the  pyrosphere,  and 
it  is  necessary  to  recur,  in  order  to  explain  them, 
to  some  new  and  bolder  hypothesis  than  has  yet 
been  hazarded.  Some  philosophers  have  belief 
in  astronomical  revolutions,  which  may  have 
modified  its  position  in  relation  to  the  sun. 
They  admit  that  the  poles  liave  not  always 
been  as  they  are  now,  and  that  some  terrible 
shock  has  displaced  them,  changing  at  the  same 
time  the  inclination  of  the  axis  of  rotation  of 
the  earth."  Figuier  (from  whom  this  quotation 
is  cited)  continues :  "  This  hj^othesis,  which 
is  nearly  the  same  as  that  propounded  by  the 
Danish  geologist  Klee,  has  been  al)ly  develojDed 
by  M.  de  Bourchepon.  Accoi'ding  to  this  writer, 
many  multiplied  shocks,  caused  by  the  violent 
contact  of  the  earth  with  comets,  produced  the 
elevation  of  mountains,  the  displacement  of  seas, 


148  GENESIS   AND   MODEKN    SCIENCE. 

and  perturbations  of  climate — plienoniena 
which  he  ascribes  to  the  sudden  disturbance  of 
the  parallelism  of  the  axis  of  rotation.  The 
antediluvian  equator,  according  to  him,  makes 
a  right  angle  with  the  existing  equator."  ^ 

With  the  theories  of  these  French  philoso- 
phers I  have  no  concern.  I  do  not  claim,  as 
they  do,  that  there  was  ever  any  actual  change 
in  the  position  of  the  equator  or  the  axis  of  ro- 
tation, but  simply  that  these  were  once  in  a 
different  relation  to  the  ecliptic. 

Among  others  who  have  argued  for  this 
change  in  the  inclination  of  the  earth's  axis 
were  Drayson,  Bell,  and  \yarring.  What  their 
theories  or  arguments  were  I  have  no  knowl- 
edge, as  I  have  had  no  access  to  their  writings. 

The  last  author  whom  I  shall  cite  in  this  con- 
nection is  Charles  Kingsley,  Canon  of  Chester, 
in  whose  charming  book,  Tonii  Gcolor/i/,  is 
this  paragraph:  "I  should  have  liked  to  tell 
you  more  about  this  by-gone  age  of  ice.  I 
should  have  liked  to  say  something  to  you  on 
the  curioiis  question,  which  is  still  an  open  one, 
whether  there  were  not  two  ages  of  ice ;  whether 
the  climate  here  did  not,  after  perhaps  thou- 
sands of  years  of  Arctic  cold,  soften  somewhat 
for  a  while  (a  few  thousand  years,  perhaps),  and 
then  harden  again  into  a  second  age  of  ice, 
somewhat  less  severe,  probably,  than  the  first. 
I  should  have  liked  to  hint  at  the  probable  causes 

1  The  World  before  the  Deluge,  p.  388. 


THE   THIED    DAY.  149 

of  this  change,  mdeed  of  the  age  of  ice  alto- 
gether— whether  it  was  caused  by  a  change  in 
the  distribution  of  hxnd  and  water,  or  by  a 
change  in  the  height  and  size  of  these  ishinds 
which  made  them  large  enough  and  high 
enough  to  carry  a  sheet  of  eternal  snow  inland ; 
or  whether,  finally,  the  age  of  ice  was  caused  by 
an  actual  change  in  the  position  of  the  whole 
planet  with  regard  to  its  orbit  round  the  sun, 
shifting  at  once  the  poles  and  the  tropics;  a 
deep  question,  that  latter,  on  which  astrono- 
mers, whose  business  it  is,  are  still  at  work,  and 
on  which,  ere  young  folk  are  old,  they  will  have 
discovered,  I  expect,  some  startling  facts." 

This  long  day — one  day,  be  it  remembered — 
continued  until  the  axis  of  the  earth  again 
changed  its  position  relatively  to  the  ecliptic, 
and  would  have  continued  until  the  present 
time  but  for  great  movements  of  the  earth's 
crust,  of  which  ample  statement  and  proof  will 
be  given  at  the  proper  place  in  this  discussion. 
This  third  day  of  the  Creation  comprised  the 
geological  periods  known  as  the  Silurian,  Devo- 
nian, and  Carboniferous  ages,  periods  of  vast 
duration,  classed  together  under  the  general 
name  of  Paleozoic  time.^  The  immense  dura- 
tion of  these  periods  we  can  vaguely  conceive 
of  when  we  remember  that  in  North  America 

^  "  By  the  close  of  the  Paleozoic,  nine-tenths  of  all 
the  rocks  on  the  globe  had  been  formed"  {Manual  of 
GeoJo(/i/,  Dana,  p.  413). 


150  GENESIS   AND  MODEEN   SCIENCE. 

the  thickness  of  the  Silurian  strata  is  25,000 
feet,  of  the  Devonian  about  14,400  feet,  and  of 
the  Carl^oniferous  nearly  10,000  feet ;  making  in 
all  55,400  feet,  or  more  than  10  miles  in  thick- 
ness, all  of  sedimentary  formation.^ 

^  Text-book  of  Geology,  Dana,  p.  140. 


CHAPTER  X. 

THE    THIRD    DAY  (Concluded). 

*'  And  God  said,  Let  the  earth  bring  forth  grass, 
the  herb  yiekling  seed,  and  the  fruit  tree  \deld- 
iug  fruit  after  his  kind,  whose  seed  is  in  itself, 
upon  the  earth :  and  it  was  so. 

"And  the  earth  brought  forth  grass,  and  herb 
yielding  seed  after  his  kind,  and  the  tree  yielding 
fruit,  W'hose  seed  was  in  itself,  after  his  kind :  and 
God  saw  that  it  was  good. 

"And  the  evening  and  the  morning  were  the 
third  day." 

We  will  now  pass  to  a  consideration  of  the 
second  phenomenal  event  of  "the  tliird  day," 
the  appearance  of  vegetation.  According  to  the 
Scriptures  the  first  organic  life  upon  the  earth 
was  vegetable.  Superficial  thinkers,  observing 
that  the  Silurian  age  (or  age  of  mollusks)  and 
the  Devonian  age  (or  age  of  fishes)  long  ante- 
dated the  Carboniferous  age,  have  hastily  con- 
cluded that  the  testimony  of  the  rocks  is  that 
animal  life  preceded  vegetable  life.     But  such 

151 


152  GENESIS   AND   MODERN    SCIENCE. 

is  not  the  case.  The  most  extreme  statement 
wonld  be  that  animal  life  and  vegetable  life 
were  contemporaneous.  In  fact,  however,  there 
is  no  room  for  doubt.  Vegetable  life  must  have 
preceded  animal  life. 

The  waters  of  the  universal  ocean  in  tlie 
period  called  in  the  Bible  "the  second  day" 
were  too  heated  and  too  heavily  charged  with 
impurities  to  support  any  organic  life.  No  land 
had  then  appeared.  The  first  traces  of  marine 
vegetable  life  are,  however,  distinctly  seen  in 
the  very  oldest  fossiliferous  strata  and  through- 
out all  of  them. 

Vegetable  life  must,  as  a  matter  of  necessity, 
have  preceded  animal  life.  Vegetable  life 
can  endure  more  extreme  conditions  than  ani- 
mal life.  In  the  progressing  refrigeration 
of  the  globe  a  temperature  fit  for  vegetable 
life  would  have  been  reached  before  that 
which  animal  life  could  endure.  Vegetation 
could  thrive  in  an  atmosphere  charged  with 
carbonic  acid,  which  would  be  deadly  to  an  ani- 
mal. Vegetation  draws  its  sustenance  directly 
from  mineral  matter  and  assimilates  inorganic 
substances,  while  animals  depend  for  food 
wholly  ujDon  organic  substances  (except  water 
and  salt).  Professor  Gray  makes  the  statement, 
"  All  food  is  produced  by  plants."  ^  All  animal 
life  rests  upon  vegetation  as  its  base.  Even 
animals  which  are  wholly  carnivorous  are  de- 
^  Lessons  in  Bofani/,  p.  3. 


THE   THIED   DAY.  153 

pendent  on  vegetation  for  life,  for  the  animals 
upon  which  they  feed  are  herbivorous.  From 
their  lower  position  in  the  scale,  plants  are  less 
instinct  with  life  than  animals.  We  know  these 
facts  independently  of  whatever  geology  may 
show  of  the  conditions  of  ancient  life.  Nor  do 
the  facts  of  geology,  in  the  least  degree,  conflict 
with  these  j)rinciples. 

Let  us  consider  these  facts.  We  must  re- 
member that  the  sea  is  the  mother  of  continents, 
and  that,  almost  without  exception,  the  fossil- 
iferous  rocks  are  sediments  deposited  by  the 
ocean.  Hence  aquatic  species  of  plants  were 
more  likely  to  be  preserved  than  those  which 
grew  upon  dry  land.  The  Silurian  strata  and 
much  of  the  Devonian  formation  are  deep  ma- 
rine deposits.  Hence  the  plants  they  contain 
are  aJgc?,  or  sea-weeds.  Professor  Winchell,  in 
summing  up  the  evidence,  says,  "  All  things 
considered,  we  are  led  to  believe  that  plant  life 
had  a  history  upon  our  earth  a  full  epoch  before 
the  existence  of  the  lowest  animals."  ^ 

I  will  briefly  allude  to  some  of  the  proofs  of 
this  statement.  Not  only  do  we  find  marine 
vegetable  life  fossilized  in  the  Lower  Silurian, 
while  fishes  first  appear  in  the  Upper  Silurian  ;- 
but  even  more  highly  organized  plants  than 
sea-weeds  have  been  found  in  the  Cambrian 

^  SJcefches  of  Creation,  Wiucliell,  p.  61. 
~  lu  Europe,  though   uot  until   the  Devonian   in 
America. 


154  GENESIS   AND   MODEKN   SCIENCE. 

rocks  of  Sweden  and  Wales.  If  we  are  re- 
minded of  the  Eozod)i  canadense,  the  supposed 
foraniiniferous  fossil  of  the  Laurentian  rocks/ 
we  can  make  reply  by  referring  to  the  beds  of 
graphite  which  the  same  rocks  contain  and 
which  rival  in  magnitude  the  coal-beds  of  later 
date.  Everything  indicates  that  they  have  been 
formed  of  vegetable  tissues.-  It  seems  by  the 
purity  of  the  deposits  that  they  were  not  of 
marine  origin.  Anthracite  is  found  in  the 
azoic  rocks  of  Norway.  In  Ireland,  in  the  Lower 
Silurian  strata,  beds  of  anthracite  are  found 
from  1  to  12  feet  in  thickness,  sufficiently  inive 
to  be  used  as  fuel.  They  do  not  show  distinct 
plant  impressions,  but  must  be  of  vegetable 
origin.  Vegetable  remains  abound  in  the  Upper 
Silurian  and  Devonian  strata,  though,  of  course, 
it  is  in  the  Carboniferous  age  that  vegeta- 
tion reached  its  most  profuse  growth.  Yet 
down  in  the  very  oldest  strata  vegetable  re- 
mains are  found,  more  or  less  abundantly,  and 
"  the  existence  of  petroleum  in  considerable 
quantities  even  in  gneissic  strata  proves  con- 
clusively pre-azoic  vegetation  to  have  existed." 
In  xVmerica  the  Potsdam  period  is  the  beginning 
of  a  system  of  life  in  geological  history,  and  here 

^  The  most  recent  investigations  make  it  doubtful  if 
this  fossil  is  a  i-elie  of  animal  life. 

-  Graphite  is  known  to  l)e  a  common  result  of  the 
exposure  of  mineral  coal  or  charcoal  to  a  liiti-h  lieat, 
and  is  undoubtedly  made  up  of  vegetable  remains. 


THE   THIRD   DAY.  155 

we  find  sea-weeds  and  in  some  places  even  veins 
of  coal. 

When  land-plants  first  appeared,  geology  has 
not  yet  revealed.  As  they  have  no  bony  or 
very  hard  parts,  it  is  not  snrj^rising  that  fossils 
of  them  do  not  appear  in  the  older  rocks.  They 
certainly  wonld  not  be  apt  to  be  fonnd  in  the 
sediments  of  deep  seas.  They  do  not  apjDcar  at 
all  in  the  Silnrian  strata,  but  in  the  Devonian 
age  land  ti'ees  of  large  size  are  found,  and  these 
are  the  first  indication  of  land-plants.  In  the 
Chemung  period  of  the  Devonian  age  many 
land-plants  appear.  The  European  Dev^onian 
rocks  yield,  besides  sea-weeds,  land-plants  of 
great  variety,  ferns,  conifers,  etc. 

In  subjecting  the  eleventh  and  twelfth  verses 
of  the  first  chapter  of  Genesis  to  a  critical  and 
scientific  examination,  it  is  at  once  noticeable 
that  the  plants  called  into  being  were  land- 
plants.  Let  us  consider  this  fact  in  two  as- 
pects. First,  what  kind  of  plants  they  were. 
"And  God  said,  Let  the  earth  bring  forth  grass." 
The  marginal  reading  is  teuder grass.  The  verb 
hriu()  forth  is  dasha;  the  noun  grass  is  deshe. 
Gesenius  says  that  the  primary  meaning  of  this 
noun  is  "the  first  shoots  from  the  earth."  The 
verb  means  "to  shoot  forth."  Gesenius  trans- 
lates the  noun  "  tender  herbage."  Young- 
translates  the  words,  "cause  to  yield  tender 
grass."  "  Tender  heritage  of  any  kind  and  how- 
ever simple  will  sufficiently  correspond  to  the 


156  GENESIS   AND  MODEKN   SCIENCE. 

word  deslieP'^  "At  the  end  of  the  Devonian 
period  there  were  a  'green  sward'  upon  the 
ground,  and  an  abundance  of  herbs,  and  the 
lands  were  covered  with  forest-trees."  - 

The  next  plants  named  in  the  Mosaic  list  are 
*'  the  herb  yielding  seed,  and  the  fruit  ti'ee  yield- 
ing fruit  after  his  kind,  whose  seed  is  in  itself." 
I  now  quote  freely,  with  some  abridgment,  from 
Genesis  and  Geology  (p.  75  et  seq.),  first  pre- 
mising that  an  herb  is  defined  as  "  a  plant  whose 
stems  are  not  woody,  and  which  dies  altogether, 
or  dies  to  the  ground,  after  it  has  produced  its 
seed,  or  at  the  api3roach  of  winter."  The  Bible 
speaks  of  "  the  herbs  of  this  period,  and  also  of 
the  trees,  as  bearing  seed.  But  it  makes  a  dis- 
tinction as  to  the  kinds  of  seed  produced  by 
the  herb  and  the  tree.  It  tells  us  of  the  herb 
simply  that  it  yielded  seed.  But  of  the  tree  it 
tells  us  that  it  yielded  fruit  whose  seed  is  in 
itself,  that  is,  in  the  fruit.  It  would  appear, 
therefore,  that  there  was  this  difference  between 
the  seed  of  the  herb  and  of  the  tree:  that  in 
the  one  there  was  to  be  seed  tvitJiout  fndf,  and 
consequently  which  was  not  in  a  fruit ;  whereas 
in  the  other  there  was  to  be  fruit  with  seed  in 
it.  '  But,'  it  will  be  asked, '  is  there  now  any  such 
distinction  in  vegetable  productions  as  plants 
which  bear  seed  without  fruit,  and  others  which 
bear  fruit  with  seed  in  the  fruit!'    We  answer, 

^  Genesis  and  Geology,  p.  74. 
2  Ibid,  p.  77. 


THE   THIllD   DAY.  157 

this  distinction  does  now  exist.  It  marks  the 
two  great  divisions  of  plants  known  as  crj^to- 
gams  and  phenogams.^  Cryptogams  are,  as  the 
name  implies,  plants  which  have  the  organs  of 
fruitfulness  concealed.  Of  this  sort  are  ferns, 
ground-pines,  Equisetacece,  etc.  These  yield  the 
naked  seeds  only,  seeds  which  are  commonly 
called  '  spores ' ;  and  although  entirely  different 
from  all  our  ordinary  seeds,  in  being  destitute 
of  that  fleshy  matter  which  we  find  in  almost 
all  kinds  of  garden-seeds  and  seeds  of  fruit- 
trees,  still  they  are  really  seeds,  inasmuch  as 
from  them  the  plants  are  propagated.  But 
almost  all  our  ordinary  plants  are  j)henogams, 
that  is,  plants  whose  organs  of  fruitfulness  are 
apparent.  But  are  there  among  phenogams 
trees  yielding  fruit  whose  seed  is  in  the  fruit  I " 
All  phenogamous  trees  are  such.  They  bear 
nuts  of  various  kinds,  or  fleshy  fruits'  having 
inclosed  seeds;  for,  botanically  speaking,  the 
fruit  of  a  plant  is  that  which  ripens  from  the 
blossom,  and  this  term  includes  the  seed-vessel 
and  its  contents.  The  seed-vessel  in  some  j^lants 
has  a  fleshy  covering  and  in  others  it  has  not. 
Considering  that  the  earlier  geological  forma- 

1  I  must  here  interject  the  remark  that  these  are  the 
two  grand  divisions  into  which  Linnaeus  first  classi- 
fies plants.  He  lived  in  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth 
century,  yet  in  this  classification  of  plants  he  was 
anticipated  l\y  Moses,  who  lived  three  thousand  two 
hundred  and  fifty  years  before  him. 


158  GENESIS   AND   MODERN    SCIENCE. 

tions  were  of  marine  origin,  and  that  as  late  as 
the  Carboniferous  age  the  vegetatioii  which  be- 
came fossihzed  was  such  as  flourished  in  swamps 
and  river  estuaries,  it  is  obvious  that  we  are  not 
to  look  for  fruit-trees  of  an  advanced  type  in 
the  fossil  remains  of  "the  third  day."  "We 
are  to  look  for  herbs  having  spores  for 
seeds,  and  full-grown  trees,  somewhat  of  the 
type  of  the  walnut  and  hickory,  with  fruit 
whose  seed  is  in  the  fruit."  "  Were  the  vege- 
table productions  of  the  earth  at  that  time 
divided  into  those  two  classes — herbs  bearing 
seed  only,  that  is,  cryptogams;  and  fruit-trees 
with  fruit  whose  seed  was  in  the  fruit!  They 
were.  For  a  long  time,  even  to  the  end  of  the 
Silurian  age,  and  perhaps  afterward,  cryptogams 
were  the  only  kinds  of  plants  in  existence. 
There  were  no  trees  in  the  Silurian  age,  but 
there  were  small  herbaceous  plants  of  various 
kinds,  and  without  exception  they  were  crypto- 
gams, that  is,  herbs  yielding  seed  (spores).  In 
the  Devonian  age,  however,  fruit-trees  appeared. 
They  were  of  two  classes:  Lcjjidodoidra,  that 
is,  trees  marked  with  scales  on  their  bark ;  and 
conifers,  that  is,  trees  allied  to  our  modern 
spruces  and  pines.  Both  of  these  classes  of 
trees  bore  fruit.  And  the  fruit  was  such  as  had 
its  seed  in  itself." 

Secondly,  these  verses,  strictly  interpreted, 
show  that  only  land-plants  were  called  into 
existence  at  this  time.     "  And  God  said,  Let  the 


THE   THIED   DAY.  159 

earth  bring  forth  grass,"  etc.  He  does  not  say, 
as  in  verse  20,  "  Let  the  ivaters  bring  forth." 
The  word  for  earth  is  erets^  and  it  is  strictly 
defined  for  us  in  the  next  preceding  verse, "  And 
God  called  the  dry  land  Earth"  (erets).  There- 
fore this  passage  means,  "  Let  the  dry  land  bring 
forth  grass,"  etc.  It  is  thus  apparent  that  this 
passage  does  not  refer  to  marine  plants  at  all ; 
and  if  so,  there  is  nothing  in  the  Scripture  nar- 
rative to  indicate  the  creation  of  marine  plants. 
Does  the  Bible  make  any  reference  to  sea-weeds 
anywhere!  This  may  seem  at  first  a  puzzling 
question,  but  a  few  minutes'  investigation  will 
show  that  it  does.  In  the  prayer  of  Jonah  oc- 
curs this  passage :  "  For  thou  hadst  cast  me  into 
the  deep,  in  the  midst  of  the  seas;  and  the 
floods  compassed  me  about :  all  thy  billows  and 
thy  waves  passed  over  me.  Then  I  said,  I  am 
cast  out  of  thy  sight;  yet  I  will  look  again 
toward  thy  holy  temple.  The  waters  compassed 
me  al)Out,  even  to  the  soul :  the  depth  closed  me 
round  about,  the  weeds  were  wrapped  about  my 
head.  I  went  down  to  the  bottoms  of  the  moun- 
tains; the  earth  with  her  bars  was  about  me 
forever."  ^  Here  the  word  for  weeds  is  suph;  but 
this  word  is  not  contained  in  the  creative  fiat. 
This  Scripture  is  also  of  very  great  interest 
because  it  is  the  first  reference  in  the  Bible 
to  created  life.  Up  to  this  point  all  matter  was 
inorganic,  but  now  organic   matter  appeared 

^  Joiiali  ii.  3-6. 


160  GENESIS  AND   MODEKN   SCIENCE. 

also.  Between  these  two  forms  of  matter  there  is 
a  great  gulf  of  mystery.  What  is  life  1  Who  can 
tell!  Whether  vegetable  life  or  animal  life,  it 
is  beyond  comprehension.  We  know  the  phe- 
nomena of  life,  and  our  consciousness  reveals  to 
us  our  own  individual  life;  but  in  what  life 
consists  we  are  ignorant.  The  defiiiitions  which 
wise  men  have  given  show  how  utterly  inde- 
finable it  is.  Eicheraud's  definition  of  life  is, 
"A  collection  of  phenomena  which  succeed  each 
other  during  a  limited  time  in  an  organized 
body."  But  this  is  equally  true  of  a  dead  body 
and  a  living  body.  De  Blainville  says,  "  Life  is 
the  twofold  internal  movement  of  composition 
and  decomposition,  at  once  general  and  continu- 
ous." But  this  applies  as  well  to  a  galvanic 
battery  as  to  a  living  body.  Herbert  Spencer 
in  1852  defined  life  as  "the  co-ordination  of 
actions,"  but  himself  says  that  this  definition 
would  apply  to  the  solar  system.  He  later  gave 
as  a  definition  of  life :  "  The  definite  combination 
of  heterogeneous  changes,  both  simultaneous 
and  successive,  in  correspondence  with  external 
co-existences  and  sequences."  ^  He  again  says, 
"  The  broadest  and  most  complete  definition  of 
life  will  be,  the  continuous  adjustment  of  inter- 
nal relations  to  external  relations."-  Chamhers^s 
Encyclopedia  says,  "  One  of  the  latest  definitions 
of  life  is  that  which  has  been  suggested  by  Mr. 

^  Cliamhers's  Encydopeilia,  article  "  Life." 
2  Principles  of  Bioloyy,  §  30. 


THE   THIRD   DAY.  IGl 

Gr.  H.  Lewes :  *  Life  is  a  series  of  definite  and 
successive  changes,  both  of  structure  and  com- 
position, which  take  place  within  an  individual 
without  destroying  its  identity.'  This  is  per- 
haps as  good  a  definition  as  has  yet  been  given."  ^ 
Oliver  Wendell  Holmes  has,  however,  I  think, 
given  a  better  one :  "  Life  is  the  state  of  an  or- 
ganized being  in  which  it  maintains,  or  is  ca- 
pable of  maintaining,  its  structural  integrity  by 
the  constant  interchange  of  elements  with  the 
surrounding  media."  '^ 

"  If  we  seek  for  the  origin  of  life  in  material 
conditions  we  are  baffled  from  the  very  start. 
Throughout  the  history  of  its  development  on 
our  planet  there  is  not  a  single  fact  to  show 
life  to  be  the  result  of  chemical  action,  or  of 
any  combined  activity  of  the  forces  of  the 
inorganic  world.  Carefully  conducted  experi- 
ments have  dissipated  forever  the  dream  of 
spontaneous  generation.  Everywhere  life  is 
begotten  of  life,  and  so  far  as  human  research 
has  gone,  life  only  can  beget  life ;  and  we  are 
forced  to  recognize  it  as  the  manifestation  of  a 
power  above  and  behind  all  the  elements,  forces, 
and  conditions  of  the  material  world.  Light, 
heat,  magnetism,  electricity,  and  chemical  affin- 
ity were  all  active  upon  our  globe  ages  before 
life  appeared,  and  when  life  came,  a  new  king- 

1  Chamhers's  Encyclopedia,  article  ''  Life." 

2  Century  Dictionary,  "Life,"  quoting  Old  Volume  of 
Life,  p.  201. 


162  GENESIS   AND   MODERN   SCIENCE. 

dom  was  born  and  a  new  world  of  marvelous 
possibilities  opened  into  being."  ^ 

We  do  not  know  what  life  is.  It  is  not 
strange  that  we  cannot  define  it.  Chemistry 
cannot  analyze  it.  The  dissecting-knife  cannot 
discover  it.  Of  all  the  mysteries  of  creation, 
life  is  the  greatest. 

Plant  life  is  less  mysterious  than  animal  life 
because  the  organism  is  simpler  and  the  phe- 
nomena fewer.  The  chief  characteristic  differ- 
ence between  plant  and  animal  life  is  that  plants 
have  no  indication  of  mind  or  feeling,  while 
animals  have  mind,  as  shown  by  sensation, 
volition,  and  other  evidences  of  intelligence. 
Gray  says  that  the  most  absolute  difference  is 
that  vegetables  are  nourished  by  the  mineral 
kingdom,  while  animals  are  nourished  entirely 
by  vegetables.2  i^  other  words,  plants  live 
upon  inorganic  matter,  but  animals  upon  or- 
ganic matter.  He  therefore  concludes  that  the 
great  use  of  plants  is  to  take  portions  of  the 
earth  and  air,  upon  which  animals  cannot  sub- 
sist at  all,  and  to  convert  these  into  something 
upon  which  animals  can  subsist. 

This  process  is  indeed  most  wonderful.  Inert 
matter,  utterly  devoid  of  life,  is  seized  upon  by 
a  plant-germ.  Presently  it  becomes  wholly 
different  from  what  it  was  before  and  has  new 
properties  and  powers.     It  builds  a  structure. 

1  The  Way,  the  Truth,  and  the  Life,  J.  H.  Dewey,  M.D. 

2  Lessons  in  Botany,  p.  2. 


THE   THIRD   DAY.  1G3 

It  forms  itself  into  organs  and  performs  func- 
tions of  various  kinds.  It  has  passed  from  tlie 
mineral  kingdom  and  has  become  a  part  of  the 
vegetable  kingdom.  Presently  it  is  seized  by 
an  animal  and  is  incorporated  into  an  animal 
body.  Now  it  feels.  It  enjoys.  It  suffers 
pain.  It  is  endowed  with  mind.  It  has  passed 
from  the  realm  of  vegetable  life  into  the  animal 
kingdom.  The  bread  which  is  on  my  table  to- 
day, a  little  while  ago  was  wheat,  swaying  in 
the  summer  wind  and  sucking  up  the  moisture 
of  a  decomposing  soil;  to-morrow  it  Avill  be 
fashioned  into  a  living  tissue  and  form  a  part 
of  my  body  and  obey  the  behests  of  my  soul. 

A  chief  characteristic  of  life  is  its  self -preserv- 
ing power  and  its  ability  to  reproduce  itself  in- 
definitely. Another  is  the  automatic  character 
of  its  functions.  Suppose  a  man  should  tell  me 
that  he  had  an  engine,  no  larger  than  a  lady's 
thimble,  which,  being  placed  in  the  midst  of 
water  and  fuel,  would  automatically  supply 
itself  therefrom  in  proper  quantities  and  keep 
itself  clear  of  waste  products;  would  regulate 
itself  and  operate  without  any  supervision; 
would  work  night  and  day  for  years,  without 
a  moment's  interruption;  would  keep  itself  in 
perfect  repair,  and,  while  performing  its  work, 
would  automatically  produce  a  thousand  engines 
like  itself,  each  having  the  same  powers  and 
functions  as  itself.  How  could  I  believe  such 
a  statement?    But  if  he  should  take  from  his 


164  GENESIS  AND   MODERN   SCIENCE. 

pocket  an  acorn,  and  should  tell  me  that  his 
Father  made  it,  and  that  it  would  do  all  these 
■wonderful  things,  I  should  recognize  the  entire 
truthfulness  of  his  words. 

How  wonderful  a  machine,  then,  is  a  seed ! 
It  may  lie  dormant  for  years,  but  when  it  finds 
itself  in  its  proper  environment  its  activity 
begins  and  it  goes  through  its  career  of  plant 
life.  Grains  of  maize  found  in  the  tombs  of  the 
Incas  have  been  made  to  vegetate ;  ^  and  also,  it 
is  said,  grains  of  wheat  taken  from  Egyptian 
mummies — although  of  this  there  is  some 
doubt.  But,  whenever  the  seed  does  germinate, 
it  always  yields  "  fruit  after  his  kind,^^  to  use  the 
quaint  but  expressive  Scripture  language  {niin, 
kind,  species).  There  is  never  any  variation. 
"  Whatsoever  a  man  soweth,  that  shall  he  also 
reap."  "Can  the  fig-tree,  my  brethren,  bear 
olive-berries?  either  a  vine,  figs?"  He  who 
made  all  things,  and  without  whom  was  not  any 
thing  made  that  was  made,  himself  said,  "  Do 
men  gather  grapes  of  thorns,  or  figs  of  thistles  ? " 
"  After  his  kind."  Here  is  taught  the  persist- 
ence of  species,  indefinite  reproduction,  but  of 
the  same  kind.  How  one  seed  differs  from  an- 
other cannot  be  explained.  Out  of  the  same 
soil,  at  the  same  time,  under  the  same  circum- 
stances, one  seed  will  form  a  starch  and  another 
an  oil ;  one  will  distill  a  poison  and  another  a 
food ;  one  will  extract  one  kind  of  dye  and  an- 

1  Chambers's  Encyclopedia,  article  "  Seed." 


THE   THIRD   DAY.  165 

other  a  different  color.    Each  has  its  individu- 
ality and  maintains  it  persistently. 

In  "  the  third  day  "  I  include  the  Carbonifer- 
ous age,  a  period  of  vast  duration.   During  that 
time  the  climate  was  moist,  warm,  and  equable, 
even  to  the  Arctic  regions.     It  may  be  thought 
that  with  the  earth  in  the  position  described, 
its    north    pole    directed    constantly    toward 
the  sun,  the  solar  heat  would  be  insufferable. 
Perhaps  it  would,  but  this  was  before  the  hu- 
man period,  and  indeed  before  the  existence  of 
any  land-animals  whatever.   In  speaking  of  the 
moon.  Sir  John  Herschel  said  that  if  any  moist- 
ure exists  upon  that  body  it  must  be  in  a  con- 
tinual state  of  migration  from  the  illuminated 
or  hot  to  the  unilluminated  or  cold  side  of  the 
lunar  globe.^    The  hot  side  of  the  moon  proljably 
has  a  temperature  of  300°  F.,  and  the  cold  side 
200°  below  zero.-    In  like  manner,  if  the  earth 
was  formerly  in  that  position,  there  would  have 
been  a  continual  rising  of  vapor  from  the  sea  and 
a  continual  movement  of  the  vapor  from  the 
northern  hemisphere  to  the  southern.     The  con- 
ditions of  the  atmosphere  were  not  favorable  for 
rain,  but  the  air  was  heavily  charged  with  moist- 
ure, and  the  heat  must  have  been  excessive  and 
uniform.     This  seems  to  fully  explain  the  mean- 
ing of  that  very  perplexing  passage.  Genesis  ii. 
4-6 :  "  These  are  the  generations  of  the  heavens 

1  The  Moon,  Nasmyth  and  Carpenter,  p.  54. 

2  Ihid.,  p.  56. 


166  GENESIS   AND   MODERN   SCIENCE. 

and  of  the  earth  when  they  were  created,  in  the 
day  that  the  Lord  God  made  the  earth  and  the 
heavens,  and  ev^ery  phxnt  of  the  field  before  it  was 
in  the  earth,  and  every  herb  of  the  field  before 
it  grew :  for  the  Lord  God  had  not  caused  it  to 
rain  upon  the  earth,  and  there  was  not  a  man  to 
till  the  ground.  But  there  went  up  a  mist  from 
the  earth,  and  watered  the  whole  face  of  the 
ground." 

"  Geologists  are  of  the  opinion,  and  expressly 
affirm,  that  the  rank  growth  of  this  period  was 
in  great  part  due  also  to  the  humidity  of  the 
atmosphere,  which,  they  say,  characterized  this 
age."  "  Dana,  speaking  of  the  causes  that  pro- 
moted the  growth  of  vegetation  in  the  Carbonif- 
erous era,  says :  '  The  atmosphere  was  more 
moist  than  now.  It  must  have  been  an  era  of 
prevailing  clouds  and  mists.''  In  like  manner, 
Le  Conte  mentions  the  moisture  of  the  period 
as  a  physical  condition  extremely  favorable  to 
vegetation.  But  why  do  clouds  and  mists  so 
favor  vegetation  I  Must  it  not  be  because  plants 
imbibe  moisture  from  the  atmosphere  !  ...  Is 
it  not  a  fact  that  all  plants  of  the  garden  and 
of  the  field  are  greatly  revived  by  the  dews 
which  fall  upon  their  surface  during  the  night! 
These  dews  scarcely  reach  the  roots  of  the  plant. 
Is  it  not  plain,  tlien,  that  they  drink  it  in  over 
their  whole  surface !  .  .  .  Humboldt  maintains 
that  trees  extract  moisture  from  the  atmosphere 
by  means  of  their  leaves,  even  when  there  is 


THE    THIRD   DAY.  167 

neither  rain  nor  dew.  He  says :  '  The  agreeable 
and  fresh  A^erdure  which  is  observed  in  many 
trees  in  districts  within  the  tropics,  where  for 
five  or  seven  months  of  the  year  not  a  elond  is 
seen  on  the  vanlt  of  heaveu,  and  where  no  per- 
ceptible dew  or  rain  falls,  proves  that  the  leaves 
are  capable  of  extracting  water  from  the  at- 
mosphere by  a  peculiar  vital  process  of  their 
own.'"^  Doubtless  the  main  purpose  of  this 
long  period  of  rank  vegetation  just  prior  to  the 
advent  of  terrestrial  life  was  to  purify  the  atmos- 
phere, to  adapt  it  to  the  air-breathing  animals 
about  to  be  ushered  into  being.  This  was  the 
period  of  coal-making.  "  The  vast  beds  of  coal 
represent  so  much  carbonic  acid  once  present  in 
the  air,"  "  It  has  often  been  suggested  that 
during  the  Carboniferous  period  the  atmosphere 
must  have  been  warmer  and  with  more  aqueous 
vapor  and  carbonic  acid  in  its  composition  than 
at  the  present  day,  to  admit  of  so  luxuriant  a 
flora  as  that  from  which  the  coal-seams  were 
formed."-  In  fact  the  earth's  atmosphere  was 
heavily  charged  with  carbonic  acid.  Coal  is 
composed  of  carbon  to  the  extent  of  82.6  per 
cent.  All  this  carbon  was  taken  out  of  the  at- 
mosphere by  the  rank  vegetation  of  the  Carbon- 
iferous age.  When  we  think  of  the  enormous 
quantities  of  coal  consumed  in  the  past  century 

^  Genesis  and  Geology,  p.  94. 

2  Encyclopmdia  Britannica   (ninth   edition),   article 
"  Geology." 


168  GENESIS   AND   MODEKN   SCIENCE. 

and  consider  the  vast  quantities  now  remaining, 
— reckoned  by  the  commissioners  in  Great  Brit- 
ain to  be  not  less  than  146,480,000,000  tons  in  the 
British  Isles  alone, — and  remember  that  the  coal- 
beds  of  the  world  exceed  in  area  322,321  square 
miles  of  unknown  thickness,  and  then  attempt  to 
realize  that  all  this  solidified  carbon  once  existed 
in  the  attenuated  form  of  a  gas  and  was  a  constit- 
uent part  of  the  common  atmosphere  (which  now 
contains  only  yo  o  of  1  per  cent,  of  carbonic  acid), 
we  may  vaguely  conceive  of  the  immensity  of 
that  period  in  which  these  deposits  were  stored 
up  for  the  use  of  man.  And  we  must  not  forget 
that  these  coal-beds  are  the  remains  of  such 
vegetation  only  as  grew  in  marshes  and  low- 
lands, where  it  could  decompose  under  water; 
for  vegetation  on  dry  land  could  not  be  formed 
into  coal,  and  would  in  centuries  produce  nothing 
more  than  a  thin  layer  of  mould  upon  the  earth. 
The  economic  uses  of  coal  have  made  it  one 
of  the  chief  factors  in  the  civilization  of  man- 
kind. Without  it,  so  far  as  we  can  now  see, 
there  could  have  been  little  communication  of 
nations  with  one  another  and  but  a  limited  in- 
terchange of  the  products  of  different  climes. 
Commerce  and  manufactures  have  been  greatly 
stimulated  by  the  use  of  coal,  and  thus  material 
wealth  and  human  comfort  have  been  increased. 
These  beneficent  results,  foreseen  by  the  Crea- 
tor, doubtless  entered  into  his  purj)oses  and 
plans. 


THE   THIKD   DAY.  169 

The  long  ages  of  "the  third  clay,"  however, 
at  length  passed  away.  As  "  the  second  da}^," 
though  of  immense  duration,  was  shorter  than 
the  first,  so  "  the  third  day,"  though  of  immense 
duration,  was  shorter  than  the  second.  But  that 
third  day  would  not  even  yet  have  ended  but 
for  a  phenomenon  of  most  important  character 
which  was  the  great  event  of  "  the  fourth  day." 


CHAPTER  XI. 

THE    FOURTH   DAY. 

"  And  God  said,  Let  there  be  lights  in  the  firma- 
ment of  the  heaven  to  divide  the  day  from  the  night ; 
and  let  them  be  for  signs,  and  for  seasons,  and  for 
days,  and  years : 

''And  let  them  be  for  lights  in  the  fii-mament  of 
the  heaven  to  give  light  upon  the  earth :  and  it  was 
so. 

''And  God  made  two  greatlights ;  thegreater  light 
to  rule  the  day,  and  the  lesser  light  to  rule  the  night : 
he  made  the  stars  also. 

"And  God  set  them  in  the  firmament  of  the 
heaven  to  give  light  upon  the  earth, 

"  And  to  rule  over  the  day  and  over  the  night,  and 
to  divide  the  light  from  the  darkness :  and  God  saw 
that  it  was  good. 

"And  the  evening  and  the  morning  were  the 
fourth  day." 

It  lias  been  a  favorite  objection  with  skepties 
that,  by  the  Bible  cosmogony,  the  sun,  moon,  and 
stars  were  not  created  until  "  the  fourth  day," 
while  light  was  created  upon  "  the  first  day " ; 

170 


THE   FOUETH   DAY.  171 

and  also  that  vegetable  life  appeared  on  "tlie 
tliird  day,"  tlioiigli  the  sun  was  not  yet  made; 
and  it  has  been  said,  almost  with  the  force  of  aii 
axiom,  that  there  could  have  been  no  light  with- 
out the  sun,i  and  no  vegetable  life  without  sun- 
hght.     It  has  already  been  shown,  on  the  best 
scientitic  authority,  that  light  did  appear  long 
before  the  sun  was  formed,  and  in  discussing  the 
events  of  "thethirdday"  I  have  repeatedly  stated 
that  throughout  the  entire  Silurian,  DeVonian, 
and  Carboniferous  ages  the  sun  shone  continu- 
ously upon  the  northern  hemisphere  of  the  earth 
It  IS  evident,  therefore,  that  these  old-time  ob- 
jections do  not  affect  the  present  theory. 

Let  us  attend  first  to  the  exegesis  of  this  pas- 
sage.    This  Scripture  does  not  declare  that  the 
sun,  moon,  and  stars  were  created  on  "the  fourth 
day."   The  word  made  here  used  does  not  signify 
creation,  1)ut  preparation  or  arrangement.     The 
word  for  made  is  asah,  which  is  never  translated 
"created"  anywhere  in  the  Old  Testament,  al- 
though a  word  of  very  frequent  occurrence.^  It  is 
generally  translated  "  made,"  as  in  this  passage ; 
for  example,  "They  made  coats  of  fine  linen" 
(Exod.  xxxix.  27).     It  is  translated  "  dressed  "  in 
fourteen  passages;  for  example,  he  "took  the 
poor  man's  lamb,  and  dressed  it  for  the  man  that 
was  come  to  him  "  (2  Sam.  xii.  4) ;  Mephiboshetli 
had  neither  dressed  his  feet,  nor  trimmed  his 

^  Olsus,  Voltaire,  Thomas  Paine. 
-  Genesis  and  Geologi/,  p.  85. 


172  GENESIS   AND   MODEEN   SCIENCE. 

beard"  (2  Sam.  xix.  24).  In  thirty-two  instances 
it  is  translated  "prepared";  for  example,  "  She 
gave  the  savoury  meat  and  the  bread,  which  she 
had  prepared,  into  the  hand  of  her  son  Jacob  " 
(Gen.xxvii.  17) ;  "  He  prepared  him  chariots  and 
horsemen,  and  fifty  men  to  run  before  him" 
(1  Kings  i.  5) ;  "  Let  the  king  and  Haman  come 
this  day  unto  the  banquet  that  I  have  prepared 
for  him"  (Esth.  v.  4).  It  is  the  word  used  in 
Genesis  i.  7 :  "  And  God  made  the  firmament." 
As  we  have  already  shown,  he  did  not  create 
the  firmament, — that  is,  did  not  make  it  out  of 
nothing, — but  rather  arranged  a  firmament, 
operating  upon  aqueous  matter  already  existing, 
and  dividing  it  so  that  a  part  of  it  was  in  one 
place  and  a  part  of  it  in  another,  with  a  firma- 
ment or  expanse  between.  So  here,  the  sun, 
moon,  and  stars,  which  had  been  created  long 
before,  were  now  arranged  or  put  into  a  new 
relation  with  the  earth.  The  meaning  of  the 
passage  is  indicated  in  Jeremiah  xxxi.  35 :  "Thus 
saitli  the  Lord,  which  giveth  the  sun  for  a  light 
by  day,  and  the  ordinances  of  the  moon  and  of 
the  stars  for  a  light  by  night."  The  sun  was  to 
rule  the  day — that  is,  regulate  the  day,  determine 
the  day,  set  the  boundaries  of  the  day,  as  it  never 
had  done  in  all  the  history  of  the  earth  before. 
The  sun,  moon,  and  stars  were  on  "  the  fourth 
daj^"  appointed  "to  divide  the  day  from  the 
night "  and  to  rule  over  them.  "  He  appointed 
the  moon  for  seasons :  the  sun  knoweth  his  going 


THE   FOUETH   DAY.  173 

down  "  (Ps.  civ.  19).  In  Genesis  i.  17  the  word 
set  is  nathan.  This  word  is  of  frequent  occur- 
rence. The  fol lowing  passage  is  best  suited  to 
my  purpose — 2  Chronicles  xxxii.  5,  6 :  he  "  re- 
paired Millo  in  the  city  of  David,  and  made  darts 
and  shields  in  abundance.  And  he  set  captains 
of  war  over  the  people."  Before  "  the  fourth 
day,"  when  the  luminaries  were  thus  set  or  ap- 
pointed for  this  purpose,  there  had  never  been 
any  regularly  occurring  division  between  night 
and  day.  There  had  been  no  time-measure  and 
no  change  of  relative  position  between  the  earth 
and  the  sun.  The  annual  circuit  of  the  earth 
in  its  orbit  brought  no  alternation  of  seasons  or 
temperature,  no  change  from  light  to  darkness, 
nor  from  darkness  to  light. 

This  Scripture  does  not  declare  that  the  stars 
were  made  on  "  the  fourth  day  " — for  notice,  in 
the  clause  "  he  made  the  stars  also,"  the  words 
he  made  are  supplied  by  the  translators,  who  in 
their  generation  supposed  such  a  statement  to  be 
scientifically  true.^  The  sentence  seems  to  mean 
he  made  the  lesser  light  and  the  stars  also  to  rule 
the  night.2   We  are  distinctly  taught  in  the  Holy 

^  The  Douay  Version,  in  this  and  some  other  pas- 
sages, has  a  better  rendering :  "  And  God  made  two 
great  lights,  a  gi-eater  light  to  rule  the  day :  and  a 
lesser  light  to  rule  the  night :  and  the  stars." 

2  "  To  him  that  made  great  hghts :  .  .  .  The  sun  to 
rule  by  day:  .  .  .  The  moon  and  stars  to  rule  by 
niftht."    Ps.  exxxvi.  7-9. 


174  GENESIS   AND   MODEEN   SCIENCE. 

Scriptures,  in  a  passage  of  wondrous  beauty  and 
power,  that  the  stars  were  in  existence  long  before 
tins  period  in  time.  God  himself  speaks,  as  he 
answers  Job  out  of  the  whirlwind  and  says, "  Who 
is  this  that  darkeneth  counsel  by  words  without 
knowledge  ?  Gird  uji  now  thy  loins  like  a  man ; 
for  I  will  demand  of  thee,  and  answer  thou  me. 
"Where  wast  thou  when  I  laid  the  foundations  of 
the  earth  ?  declare,  if  thou  hast  understanding. 
Who  hath  laid  the  measures  thereof,  if  thou 
knowest?  or  who  hath  stretched  the  line  upon 
it?  Whereupon  are  the  foundations  thereof 
fastened  ?  or  who  laid  the  corner  stone  thereof ; 
W^hen  the  morning  stars  sang  together,  and  all 
the  sons  of  God  shouted  for  joyl"^  The  spa- 
cious depths  were  peopled  with  glorious  orbs  of 
light  while  yet  "the  earth  was  without  forni, 
and  void."  The  stars  were  indeed  created,  but 
it  was  "in  the  beginning,"  when  "God  created 
the  heaven  and  the  earth."  Mark  the  order, 
"  the  heaven  and  the  earth." 

Now  let  us  inquire  how  any  change  could 
have  ])een  made  by  which  the  sun,  moon,  and 
stars  could  become  measurers  of  terrestrial  time 
"  to  divide  the  day  from  the  night."  The  answer 
is  simple,  though  the  fact  is  so  stupendous.  It 
was  simply  by  changing  the  direction  of  the 
earth's  axis  of  rotation.  I  do  not  say  changing 
the  axis  itself,  but  its  direction  as  related  to  the 
ecliptic — so  that  it  was  no  longer  coincident  with 

1  Job  xxxviii.  1-7. 


POSITION  OF  THE  EARTH   IN  THE  MESOZOIC  AGE. 


THE   FOURTH   DAY.  175 

the  plane  of  the  echptic,  but  inclined  at  an  angle 
thereto.  As  soon  as  that  was  done,  the  impor- 
tant results  followed  which  the  sacred  text  re- 
cords in  grand  and  simple  words. 

The  axis  of  the  earth  at  the  present  time  in- 
clines to  the  ecliptic,  or  j^lane  of  the  earth's 
orbit,  at  an  angle  of  (jQ^°.  For  reasons  here- 
after given  it  is  probable  that  on  "the  fourth 
day  "  the  angle  of  inclination  was  somewhat  less. 
Any  considerable  inclination  would  accomplish 
the  result  indicated  in  the  Scriptures. 

Let  us  i3ause  briefly  to  admire  the  wisdom 
and  simplicity  of  this  arrangement.  By  it  was 
secured  at  once  the  alternation  of  day  and  night 
in  the  jieriod  of  each  rotation  of  the  earth  upon 
its  axis ;  but  an  equally  important  result  was  the 
alternations  of  the  seasons,  as  the  earth  pre- 
sented first  its  northern  and  then  its  southern 
side  to  the  sun.  The  succession  of  the  dry  and 
rainy  seasons  within  the  tropics,  and  of  spring, 
summer,  autumn,  and  winter  in  the  two  tem- 
perate zones  now  began,  and  thus  the  earth  be- 
came suited  to  the  wants  of  man,  so  soon  to  be 
placed  upon  it. 

The  Hebrew  for  signs  is  otJt,  which  is  a  word 
having  a  well-defined  meaning  of  pledge,  token, 
or  proof,  and  it  frequently  occurs  in  the  Old  Tes- 
tament. A  familiar  instance  of  its  use  is  its 
reference  to  the  signs  wrought  by  Moses  in  the 
Egyptian  plagues.  It  is,  of  course,  only  a  ver- 
bal coincidence  and  probably  of  no  important 


176  GENESIS   AND   MODERN   SCIENCE. 

signification  that  the  word  signs  also  denotes 
the  twelve  i:)arts  of  the  ecliptic  or  zodiac.  Now, 
for  the  first  time,  did  the  sun  make  its  path 
along  the  signs  of  the  zodiac.  As  seen  from 
the  earth,  the  sun  apparently  moves  through 
the  celestial  spaces  of  these  signs.  These  twelve 
divisions  are  designated  by  the  several  constel- 
lations of  stars,  known  as  Aries,  Taurus,  Gemini, 
Cancer,  Leo,  Virgo,  Libra,  Scorpio,  Sagittarius, 
Capricorn  us,  Aquarius,  and  Pisces.  In  Aries  is 
the  vernal  equinox  and  in  Libra  the  autumnal. 
In  Cancer  is  the  summer  solstice  and  in  Capri- 
cornus  the  winter  solstice.  It  is  true,  indeed, 
that  by  the  precession  of  the  equinoxes  the  signs 
have  become  separated  in  the  course  of  time 
about  30°  from  the  constellations  whose  names 
they  respectively  bear;  but  the  essential  fact 
remains  that  the  ecliptic  is  a  great  dial-plate, 
divided  into  twelve  spaces,  and  as  the  sun 
performs  its  circuit  around  the  zodiac  it  marks 
off  the  twelve  divisions  or  months  of  the 
year.  While  the  diurnal  revolution  of  the  earth 
upon  its  axis  gives  the  sequence  of  day  and 
night,  the  annual  or  orbital  movement  of  the 
earth  causes  the  change  of  seasons,  and  so 
our  globe  completes  in  one  year  its  journey 
around  the  sun.  Thus  the  signs  mark  off  the 
divisions  of  the  rolling  year.  "For  seasons." 
For  what  else  has  God  inclined  the  earth's  axis 
to  its  orbit,  if  not  to  give  the  variation  of  tem- 
perature to  the  earth  and  to  cause  the  vicissi- 


THE   FOURTH   DAY.  177 

tilde  of  the  seasons  in  tlieii*  order?  "  For  days, 
and  years."  How  else  could  lie  obtain  these  re- 
sults, without  at  the  same  time  destroying  the 
round  of  the  seasons  ? 

"  And  the  evening  and  the  morning  were  the 
fourth  day."  How  long  was  that  day  ?  Twenty- 
three  hours,  fifty-six  minutes,  and  four  and 
nine-tenth  seeonds,^  the  period  of  one  diurnal 
revolution  of  the  earth  upon  its  axis,  the  sum 
of  one  alternation  of  darkness  and  light.  I 
adhere  to  the  same  definition  of  day  through- 
out this  discussion — a  period  of  one  alternation 
of  darkness  and  light;  but  now,  for  the  first 
time  in  the  history  of  the  earth,  such  an  alter- 
nation occupied  but  twenty-four  hours. 

The  alternation  of  the  seasons  depends  not 
only  upon  the  inclination  of  the  earth's  axis  to 
the  ecliptic,  but  also  upon  the  constant  paral- 

1  As  the  length  of  the  day  has  not  varied  so  much 
as  one  one-hnndredth  part  of  a  second  since  the  time 
of  Hipparohus  (200  B.C.),  it  is  reasonable  to  believe 
that  it  has  been  invariable  ever  since  the  axis  of  the 
earth  has  been  inclined  at  an  angle  to  the  ecliptic. 
Recently,  however,  astronomers  have  thought  that 
the  ocean  tides,  which  move  around  the  earth  in  a 
direction  opposite  to  that  of  its  rotation,  may,  by  their 
friction,  be  gradually  retarding  the  earth's  rotation, 
and  thus  lengthening  the  day  somewhat ;  but  if  so,  the 
variation  in  the  past  twenty-five  hundred  years  has 
not,  at  the  most,  increased  the  length  of  the  day  more 
than  one  sixty-sixth  of  a  second. 


178  GENESIS   AND   MODEKN   SCIENCE. 

lelism  of  tlie  axis  in  whatever  paii  of  its  orbit 
the  earth  may  be.  During  "the  third  day," 
I  have  said,  the  north  pole  was  always  turned 
toward  the  sun.  The  earth's  axis  was  then  in 
the  plane  of  the  ecliptic,  and  the  circles  of  its 
rotation  were  perpendicular  to  that  plane.  The 
centripetal  force  of  gravitation  was  drawing 
the  earth  toward  the  sun,  wdiile  the  centrifugal 
force  was  impelling  it  in  an  angular  direction 
from  the  sun.  The  resultant  of  these  two 
forces  carried  the  earth  forward  in  the  direction 
of  its  orbit.  While  the  centrifugal  force  is 
constant,  the  centripetal  force  is  continually 
and  regularly  varying  in  intensity ;  hence,  by 
the  familiar  law  of  dynamics,  the  orbit  is  nec- 
essarily elliptical,  having  the  sun  for  one  of  its 
foci ;  and  by  Kepler's  second  law  we  know  that 
the  earth,  when  moving  toward  its  perihelion, 
or  nearer  the  sun,  will  move  wit.li  an  increasing 
velocity,  and  when  moving  toward  its  aphelion, 
or  farther  from  the  sun,  will  move  with  a  de- 
creasing velocity. 

Now  consider  these  central  forces  as  applied 
to  the  eartli,  rotating  upon  an  axis  coincident 
with  the  plane  of  the  ecliptic,  and  wdth  its 
northern  hemisphere  gravitating  toward  the 
sun.  The  eartli  would  have  a  motion  of  trans- 
lation along  its  orbit,  but  the  centripetal  force 
would  always  be  exerted  in  the  line  of  the  axis, 
while  the  centrifugal  force  would  act  in  a  direc- 
tion at  a  right  angle  to  the  axis;  or,  stating  the 


a.  Centripetal  Forces. 

b.  Centrifugal  Forces. 


N      North  Pole. 
S.      South  Pole. 


The   Position  of  the  Earth   in   its  orbit  in   Paleozoic   Time. 


a      Centripetal  Forces. 

b.     Centrifugal  Forces.  '^^^  N.     North  Pole. 

The   Position  of  the   Earth  in  its  orbit  in   Mesozoic  Time. 


THE   FOUKTH   DAY. 


179 


same  fact  differently,  tlie  orbital  velocity  of  the 
earth  "would  be  resolvable  into  two  component 
forces,  one  in  the  direction  of  the  earth's  axis 
toward  the  sun,  and  the  other  at  a  right  angle 
to  the  axis — but  both  these  forces  would  be  in 
the  same  plane,  that  is, 
in  the  plane  of  the  eclip- 
tic. These  central  forces 
are  conceived  by  the 
mathematician  as  ap- 
plied at  the  earth's  cen- 
ter of  gravity.  In  this 
diagram  the  circle  is 
intended    to   represent  q 

the  earth,  the  solid  ver- 
tical line  the  earth's  axis,  the  page  itself  the 
plane  of  the  ecliptic,  the  dotted  line  a  the 
centripetal  force,  and  the  dotted  line  h  the 
centrifugal  force.  The  arrow-heads  indicate 
the  direction  of  the  forces.  The  resultant  of 
these  two  forces  is  the  orbital  movement  in  the 
direction  of  the  dotted  line  c.  It  is  apparent 
that  if  a  line  is  drawn  from  the  earth's  center 
of  gravity  to  the  center  of  the  sun  it  will  be 
the  line  in  which  the  centripetal  force  is  ex- 
erted, and  also  the  line  of  the  earth's  axis.  As 
these  lines  are  exactly  coincident,  the  north  pole 
would  always  be  directed  toward  the  sun,  in 
whatever  part  of  its  orljit  the  earth  might  be. 
Hence  there  could  be  no  alternation  of  seasons, 
nor  of  day  and  night.     The  sun,  as  seen  from 


180  GENESIS   AND  MODEKN   SCIENCE. 

the  north  pole  of  the  earth,  would  always  appear 
in  the  zenith,  while  from  the  earth's  equator  the 
sun  Avould  appear  in  the  northern  horizon,  but 
would  not  move  its  position. 

But  as  soon  as  the  earth's  center  of  gravity- 
was  changed,  the  axis  of  the  earth  was  inclined 
to  the  ecliptic.  This  turning  changed  the  direc- 
tion of  the  axis  with  reference  to  the  central 
forces.  Neither  of  the  central  forces  now  coin- 
cides with  the  axis  of  rotation ;  but  at  the  points 
of  equinox  the  centrifugal  force,  for  an  instant, 
is  in  the  vertical  plane  of  the  axis  ^  or  in  a  plane 
parallel  thereto,  and  at  the  points  of  solstice  the 
centripetal  force,  for  an  instant,  is  in  the  vertical 
plane  of  the  axis  or  in  planes  parallel  thereto. 
Except  at  these  four  instants  the  central  forces 
are  always  at  an  angle  with  the  vertical  plane  of 
the  axis.  These  forces  act  and  react  upon  each 
other  and  bear  the  earth  along,  as  before,  in  an 
elliptical  orbit,  but  cannot  disturb  its  equipoise. 
Thus  the  axis  of  rotation  is  wholly  unaffected  by 
these  forces,  in  whatever  position  in  its  orbit  the 
earth  may  be.  The  equatorial  velocity  of  the 
earth  is  not  less  than  1,040  miles  an  hour,  and 
the  rotation  of  so  groat  a  mass,  at  so  great  a 
rate,  insures  the  stability  of  the  earth's  axis  and 
its  constant  parallelism.  This  stability  and 
parallelism  of  the  axis  of  rotation  are  well  illus- 

^  The  plane  here  meant  is  a  plane  at  a  right  angle 
with  the  plane  of  the  ecliptic  and  coincident  with  the 
entire  length  of  the  axis  of  the  earth. 


THE   FOUETH   DAY.  181 

trated  by  the  gyroscope,  a  paradoxical  toy,  the 
mathematics  of  whose  movements  presents  a 
profound  problem  for  explanation. 

When  the  earth  assumed  this  position,  the 
sun  rose  in  the  east  and  set  in  the  west,  and 
performed  its  circuit  in  twenty-four  hours. 

Now  let  us  turn  to  Grod's  other  book,  written 
on  the  rocky  tablets  of  the  earth's  crust,  and 
see  if  we  can  there  find  any  evidence  of  so  great 
and  important  a  change,  and  if  so,  how  and 
when  it  occurred.  Surely  the  evidence  can- 
not be  lacking  on  that  historic  page,  if  such  an 
event  took  place. 

If  it  is  true,  that  the  change  in  the  direction 
of  the  earth's  axis  with  relation  to  the  ecliptic 
was  made  at  the  conclusion  of  the  Permian  pe- 
riod of  the  Carboniferous  age,  then  the  fifth  and 
sixth  days  of  the  Mosaic  cosmogony  must  have 
been  at  or  near  the  beginning  of  the  Mesozoic,i 
the  first  of  whose  divisions  is  the  Trias.  The  Mes- 
ozoic  epoch  is  remarkable  as  the  era  of  the  first 
mammals,  the  first  birds,  the  first  common  or 
osseous  fishes,  and  also  of  the  first  forms  of  sev- 
eral kinds  of  vegetable  life.  Dana  writes  r  "  The 
steps  of  progress  in  the  life  of  the  globe,  as  the 
Mesozoic  era  opened  in  the  Triassic  period,  were 
especially  important.  The  storing  away  as  coal 
of  the  excess  of  atmospheric  carbon  had  purified 
the  atmosphere,  and  soon  after  the  Paleozoic 

^  Meaning  "  middle  life." 
'^  Manual  of  Geologi/,  p.  429. 


182  GENESIS   AND   MODEEN    SCIENCE. 

time  we  find  higlier  races  breathing  the  better 
air."  An  English  writer  states:^  "Between  the 
organisms  of  the  Permian-  and  Triassie  periods 
there  exists  a  more  striking  difference  than  is  to 
be  found  between  those  of  any  previous  periods. 
Looking  at  this  life  character,  the  rocks  from  the 
Permian  downward  have  been  grouped  together 
under  the  title  of  Paleozoic,^  while  from  the 
Trias  upward  the  whole  of  the  strata  have  re- 
ceived the  name  of  Neozoic."  ^ 

Speaking  of  the  close  of  the  Paleozoic  time, 
Dana  says :  "The  extermination  of  life  wliieh  took 
place  at  the  time  was  one  of  the  most  extensive 
in  all  geological  history,  and  must  have  been  in 
consequence  of  great  physical  changes  j^rogress- 
ing  over  the  earth's  surface.  No  fossils  of  Car- 
boniferous formation  occur  in  the  later  rocks."  ^ 

Figuier  says :  "  Those  geological  commotions 
which  called  forth,  not  over  the  whole  extent 
of  the  earth,  but  only  in  certain  places,  great 
movements  of  the  soil,  would  appear  to  have 
been  more  frequent  toward  tlie  close  of  this 
[Permian]  epoch,  and  especially  at  the  moment 
which  formed,  as  it  were,  the  passage  between 
the  Permian  and  Triassie  periods." " 

^  Cltamhers's  Unci/rlopedid,  article  "Paleontology." 

-  The  latest  period  of  the  Carboniferous  age. 

^  Meaning  "  ancient  life." 

^  Meaning  "  new  life." 

^  Tejt-hoolx  of  Geology,  p.  157. 

c  The  World  before  the  Dehuje,  p.  161. 


THE    SOUTHERN    HEMISPHERE. 


THE    NORTHERN    HEMISPHERE. 

By  holding  the  page  so  that  the  light  will    pass  through 
it,  the  position  of  Antipodal  Lands  will  be  seen. 


THE   FOURTH   DAY.  183 

Ha\ang  thus  indicated  the  great  change  be- 
tween Paleozoic  and  Mesozoic  time,  let  ns  con- 
sider its  cause.  It  was  due  to  a  change  in  the 
center  of  the  earth's  gravity.  The  former  equi- 
librium was  disturbed  by  new  movements  in  the 
earth's  crust.  While  the  mass  of  the  earth  was 
the  same,  not  being  increased  in  weight,  yet  this 
crust  was  now  differently  disj)osed,  and  portions 
of  the  southern  hemisphere  protruded,  causing 
that  side  of  the  earth  to  gravitate  somewhat 
toward  the  sun — thus  deflecting  the  line  of  the 
earth's  axis  from  the  plane  of  the  ecliptic  and 
inclining  it  at  an  angle  thereto.  The  crust  of 
the  southern  hemisphere  duriug  these  ages  of 
intense  and  continuous  cold  had  thickened  and 
cooled  more  rapidly  than  that  of  the  northern 
hemisphere,  and  the  great  folds  and  wrinkles 
of  the  ocean-bed  of  the  South  Pacific  were  up- 
heaved. Accompanying  this  change  in  the 
center  of  gravity  was  a  change  in  the  level  of 
the  sea,  and  a  great  volume  of  water — re-ad- 
justing itself  to  these  new  circumstances — was 
transferred  from  the  northern  to  the  southern 
hemisphere.  New  lands  protruded  and  emerged 
from  the  southern  ocean,  notably  southern  Africa 
and  the  continent  of  Australia.' 

Professor  Dana,  in  discussing  the  peculiarity 
of  the  Australian  coal-beds,  says  that  from  the 

^  By  examining  the  map  on  the  opposite  page  it 
will  be  seen  to  what  part  of  the  noi'thern  hemisphere 
these  lands  are  antipodal. 


184  GENESIS  AND   MODERN    SCIENCE. 

fossil  contents  there  found  it  is  evident  that 
they  contain  a  Triassic  assemblage  of  sj^ecies. 
In  view  of  all  the  facts  he  concludes  that  these 
coal-beds  represent  the  Triassic  period.  The 
peculiar  flora  of  the  Carboniferous  age,  he  says, 
is  lacking.^ 

This  is  an  important  piece  of  testimony.  If 
the  peculiar  flora  of  the  Carboniferous  age  is 
lacking,  that  continent  had  not  emerged  from 
the  sea  in  Paleozoic  time.  If  the  flora  and 
fauna  there  found  are  Triassic,  this  portion  of 
the  Australian  continent  emerged  from  the  sea 
in  the  Triassic  period. 

In  his  last  edition  of  the  Manual  of  Geology 
he  says  that  Australia  is  a  Triassic  continent 
— a  fragment  of  the  Triassic  world.  Its  surface 
rocks  are  to  a  large  extent  Permian,  Triassic, 
and  Jurassic.  And,  too,  he  notices  that  the 
conditions  prevailing  in  that  continent  and  in 
the  other  lands  of  the  southern  hemisphere 
afford  a  strong  argument  for  considering  that 
the  Permian  period  should  not  be  united  to  the 
Carboniferous,  but  to  the  Triassic,  into  which 
it  blends.  Indeed,  the  movements  in  the  south- 
ern hemisphere  were  not  concurrent  with  those 
of  the  northern,  but  were  more  or  less  independ- 
ent; and  owing  to  this,  the  boundary  closing 
Paleozoic  time,  which  is  strongly  marked  in  the 
geological  history  of  Europe  and  America,  can- 

^  Manual  of  Geology,  Dana,  p.  443. 


THE   FOUETH  DAY.  185 

not  be  satisfactorily  defined  in  the  southern 
hemisphere.^ 

This  rising  of  the  Triassic  strata  in  Austraha 
was  synchronous  with  a  general  uplift  of  the 
ocean-bed  of  the  southern  Pacific.  The  Trias- 
sic strata  have  also  been  found  in  great  force  in 
the  geological  formations  of  South  Africa,  which 
have  been  determined  with  much  accuracy.- 

Sir  Roderick  Murchison  has  pointed  out  that 
the  older  rocks  which  are  known  to  circle 
around  the  continent  of  Africa  unquestionably 
included  an  interior  marshy  or  lacustrine  coun- 
try, and  that  the  present  center  zone  of  waters, 
whether  lakes,  rivers,  or  marshes,  is  but  the  great 
modern  residual  phenomena  of  those  of  a  Mes- 
ozoic  age.^  This  author  states  that  the  geology 
of  South  Africa  is  unique.  No  fossils  are  found 
save  of  species  now  living  in  that  region.  The 
rocks  are  of  the  Secondary  (that  is,  the  Mesozoic) 
age,  and  have  never  since  been  submerged.^ 

I  do  not  mean  to  assert  that  it  was  these  Tri- 
assic protrusions  in  the  southern  hemisphere 
which  alone  changed  the  equilibrium  of  the 
earth   (for    Triassic    strata   of   equal   or   even 

1  Manual  of  Geology^  Dana  (fourth  edition),  pp.  406, 
632,  797. 

2  Sell  em. 

^  Encijclojxedia  Britannica   (ninth   edition),   article 
"  Africa." 
*  American  Encyclopedia,  article  "  Africa." 


186  GENESIS  AND  MODERN   SCIENCE. 

greater  extent  are  found  north  of  the  equator), 
but  rather  infer  fi'oni  these  southern  forma- 
tions a  general  development  of  the  earth's  crust 
in  that  hemisphere,  and  vast  movements  of  it 
from  and  after  this  time.  For  ages  the  sun 
never  shone  on  the  southern  hemisphere.  It 
was  enwraj)ped  in  a  perpetual  winter.  lee 
prevailed  even  to  the  equator.  The  constant 
cold,  continuing  perhaps  for  centuries,  must 
have  had  the  effect  of  refrigerating  the  earth's 
crust  more  rapidly  in  the  southern  hemisphere 
than  in  the  northern,  where  the  sun's  heat  was 
intense  and  unceasing.  Whereas  in  the  kSHu- 
rian  and  Devonian  ages  in  the  northern  hemi- 
sphere the  earth's  crust  north  of  the  equator 
was  heavier  than  the  crust  south  of  the  equa- 
tor, the  southern  crust  had  become,  by  the  time 
of  the  Triassic  period,  sufficiently  thick  and 
dense  to  weigh  down  that  side  of  the  earth  and 
to  lift  the  northern  side ;  or,  in  other  words,  to 
change  the  direction  of  the  earth's  axis  from 
being  coincident  with  the  plane  of  the  ecliptic 
to  being  at  an  angle  thereto. 

In  Chapter  VIII.  reference  was  made  to  the 
"unanswered  query,"  stated  recently  by  Dana, 
why  the  mineral  ingredients  of  the  earth's  crust 
should  have  been  so  gathered  about  the  south 
pole  as  to  give  a  greater  density  to  the  solid  ma- 
terial beneath  the  southern  ocean.  The  theory 
just  given  offers  a  reasonable  and  sufficient  ex- 
planation, which,  however,  is  elaborated  by  the 


y^- 

A 

//" 

b 

/  /' 

-3»^- 

-c 

V 

a: 

V^ 

^: 

K 

THE   FOURTH   DAY.  187 

diagrams  on  the  opposite  page.    In  these  figures 
tlie  arrows  indicate  the  plane  of  the  eehi^tie  and 
the  direction  toward  the  sun.     The  circle  is  a 
metallic  disk  representing  the  earth.     AB  is  a 
glass  tube,  having  closed  ends  and  secured  upon 
the  disk.    The  disk  with  its  tube  is  mounted  on 
a  proper  support  by  trunnions,  C,  at  the  geomet- 
ric center.     Suppose  this  tube  to  be  two-thirds 
fiUed  with  water.    The  space  occupied  by  water 
is  marked  a  and  the  air-space  in  the  tube  is 
marked  h.     In  Fig.  1  the  level  of  the  water  is 
parallel  with  the  upper  and  lower  sides  of  the 
tul)e.     The  apparatus  is  now  evenly  balanced 
and  the  tube  is  horizontal     It  is  evident  that 
any  weight  or  change  of  leverage,  however  slight, 
applied  at  either  end  of  the  tube,  will  destroy 
this  horizontal  balance.     Suj3pose  now  a  piece 
of  metal,  marked  x  in  Fig.  2,  and  shaped  like  a 
lune  or  crescent,^  is  affixed  to  the  disk  in  the  po- 
sition indicated  in  Fig.  1  by  dotted  hues.     The 
re-ult  will  be  that  the  weighted  side  of  the  disk 
will  fall  to  the  position  shown  in  Fig.  2,  and  the 
tube  will  be  vertical.   The  level  of  tlie  water  will 
be  one-third  below  the  top  end  of  the  tube. 

In  the  position  of  the  disk,  shown  in  Fig.  2, 
however,  it  is  e^ddent  tliat  a  lune  of  the  same 
size  and  weight  as  x,  if  applied  to  the  upper 
portion  of  the  disk,  diametrically  opposite  the 
lune  X,  would  not  be  sufficient  to  carry  back  the 

1  Of  course,  a  piece  of  any  other  form,  may  be  used, 
but  I  prefer  to  preserve  the  chcular  form. 


188  GENESIS   AND   MODEKN   SCIENCE. 

disk  and  its  tube  to  their  former  position ;  but 
that,  to  effect  any  change  in  their  position,  a 
much  larger  or  heavier  hme  than  x  must  be 
apphed,  and  also  that  it  must  be  applied  in  an 
angular  direction,  as  indicated  by  the  dotted 
lines  in  Fig.  2.  Suppose,  therefore,  that  such 
a  lune,  marked  ^,  be  so  attached,  as  in  Fig.  3. 
The  result  will  be  that  the  disk  will  turn,  and 
the  tube  will  be  tipped  so  as  to  be  in  the  angu- 
lar direction  there  shown.  If  we  consider  the 
lune  z  as  representing  the  protruding  portion 
of  the  southern  crust  of  the  earth,  and  the  lune 
X  the  protruding  portion  of  the  northern  crust, 
we  see  not  only  that  the  former  is  thicker  than 
the  latter,  but  also  why  it  must  be  so  in  order 
to  change  the  direction  of  the  earth's  axis.^ 

If  Fig.  1  is  understood  as  representing  the 
position  of  the  earth  in  the  Azoic  age.  Fig.  2 

^  This  apparatus  employs  a  tube  partially  filled  wdth 
water,  which  serves  as  a  shifting  weight.  lu  fact, 
however,  the  earth  was,  in  "  the  second  day,"  a  per- 
fect spheroid,  covered  with  a  universal  ocean.  As  a 
spheroidal  apparatus  mth  a  liquid  covering  is  not  avail- 
able, I  have  used  this  simpler  form ;  but  the  principle 
involved  in  tlie  movements  is  the  same.  It  is  true  that 
this  apparatus  is  hung  upon  a  fixed  pivot,  hut  that  the 
earth  is  free  in  space  and  always  finds  its  oquihbrium, 
being  sensitive  to  every  change  in  its  center  of  grav- 
itj'.  Yet,  as  in  the  mechanical  ilhistration,  the  coun- 
terbalancing protrusion  of  the  earth's  crust  must  not 
only  be  lieavier  than  the  weight  which  it  is  to  over- 
come, but  must  be  at  a  point  less  than  180°  therefrom. 


THE   FOURTH   DAY.  189 

represents  it  in  the  Paleozoic  age  and  Fig.  3  in 
the  Mesozoic. 

I  do  not  deny  the  existence  of  Paleozoic 
strata  in  the  sonthern  hemisphere ;  but  they  are 
in  very  small  proportion,  and  were  not  suffi- 
ciently massive  nor  extended  to  have  materially 
affected  the  earth's  center  of  gravity  during  the 
period  which  I  have  designated  as  "  the  third 
day."  AVhether  those  strata  are  contemjDora- 
neous  with  those  of  the  northern  hemisphere, 
or  in  what  manner  they  are  correlated  with  the 
latter,  will  be  considered  in  the  next  chapter. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

THE    FOURTH    DAY    {Vuncludal). 

It  is  more  convenient  at  this  point  than  else- 
where, to  discuss  an  important  subject,  quite 
material  in  this  investigation :  that  of  the  con- 
temporaneity of  the  strata  of  the  same  name, 
wherever  deposited. 

Tlie  theory  of  Hutton,  which  was  propounded 
ill  the  very  beginning  of  the  modern  science  of 
geology,  about  a  century  ago,  has  been  retained 
to  the  present  time,  but  rests  upon  mere  as- 
sumption. It  assumes  that  the  sea-deposits  tlie 
world  around  are  always  the  same  in  charactiM' 
at  the  same  time;  for  example,  if  the  Silurian 
strata  Avere  forming  at  one  place,  then  the  sedi- 
ments of  the  seas  forming  thronghout  the  whole 
world  at  the  same  time  were  also  Silurian. 

In  an  out-of-the-way  place  I  found,  copied 
from  the  Spectator,  this  contribution  from  the 
facile  and  graceful  pen  of  Professor  Richard  A. 
Proctor,  who  has  done  much  to  popularize  sci- 

1  December  4,  1809. 

190 


THE   FOUETH   DAY.  191 

eiitific  truth:   "If  there  is  one  theory  which 
geologists  have  thought  more  justly  founded 
than  all  others,  it  is  the  view  that  the  various 
strata  were  formed  at  different  times.     A  chalk 
district,  for  example,  lying  side  by  side  with  a 
sandstone  district,  has  been  referred  to  a  totally 
different  era.     Whether  the  chalk  was  formed 
first,  or  whether  the  sandstone  existed  before 
the  minute  races  came  into  being  which  formed 
the  cretaceous  stratum,  might  be  a  question. 
But  no  doubt  existed  in  the  minds  of  geologists 
that  each  formation  belonged  to  a  distinct  pe- 
riod.    Now,  however.  Dr.  Carpenter  and  Pro- 
fessor Thompson   may  fairly  say,   'We   have 
changed  all  this.'     It  has  been  found  that  at 
points  of  the  sea-bottom  only  eight  or  ten  miles 
apart  there  may  be  in  progress  the  formation  of 
a  cretaceous  deposit  and  of  a  sandstone  region, 
each  with  its  own  proper  fauna.     'Wherever 
similar  conditions  are  found  upon  the  dry  land 
of  the  present  day,'  remarks  Di-.  Carpenter,  'it 
has  been  supposed  that  the  formation  of  chalk 
and  the  formation  of  sandstone  must  have  been 
separated  from  each  other  by  long  periods,  and 
the  discovery  that  they  may  actually  co-exist 
upon  adjacent  surfaces  has  done  no  less  than  to 
strike  at  the  very  root  of  the  customary  assump- 
tions with  regard  to  geological  time.'"    Proc- 
tor accounts  for  this  peculiarity  on  the  ground 
of  varying  temperatures  of  deep-sea  regions, 
caused  by  the  direction  of  the  currentsfrom 


192  GENESIS   AND   MODEKN    SCIENCE. 

the  equator  or  from  the  poles.  This  certainly 
is  a  reasonable  explanation  why  the  fauna  of 
two  adjacent  regions  of  the  sea  should  be  unlike. 

''''  Homotaxis  (from  the  Greek  homos,  same,  and 
taxis,  arrangement)  is  a  word  introduced  into 
use  by  Professor  Huxley  to  express  an  idea  in 
geology  remotely  analogous  to  that  expressed 
by  liomology  in  zoology.  It  had  been  tacitly 
assumed  in  geological  reasoning  that  a  stratum 
or  formation  was  throughout  its  horizontal 
extent  of  contemporaneous  origin.  The  impos- 
sibility of  this  had  long  been  apprehended  by 
the  more  philosophical  geologists,  as  Edward 
Forbes,  De  la  Beche,  and  others ;  and  Professor 
Huxley  finally  gave  clear  expression  to  the 
contradiction  by  applying  the  term  homotaxis  to 
signify  similarity  of  position  in  a  series  of  rocks, 
apart  from  any  question  as  to  the  contempora- 
neity or  sequence  of  origin  of  the  parts  of  the 
series."  ^ 

Geikie  says  that  the  divisions  of  the  stratified 
rocks  are  most  satisfactorily  classified  by  means 
of  their  characteristic  fossils.  Each  formation 
has  its  own  peculiar  assemblage  of  organic  re- 
mains. The  same  general  succession  of  organic 
types  is  everywhere  found,  with,  of  course, 
some  important  modifications  in  different 
countries.  This  similarity  of  succession  is 
termed  homotaxis.  Bj^  this  method  of  compari- 
son the  stratified  formations  of  widely  separated 
1  Johnson^ s  Universal  Ci/rlopedia,  vol.  iv.,  p.  74. 


THE   FOURTH   DAY.  193 

coiiuti'ies  are  brought  into  relation  with  each 
other.  tSedinientary  rocks  containing  certain 
genera  and  species,  wherever  they  appear  and 
however  different  their  lithological  character 
may  be,  are  grouped  together  as  homotaxial, 
that  is,  as  having  been  deposited  during  the 
same  relative  period  in  the  general  progress  of 
life  in  each  region . 

It  was  formerly  believed  that  strata  having 
such  similar  fossils  were  chronologically  con- 
temporaneous, and  this  opinion  still  prevails  to 
some  extent.  Such  an  inference,  however,  rests 
on  most  insecure  grounds.  We  may  not,  indeed, 
be  able  to  prove  that  they  are  not  strictly  co- 
eval, but  if  we  reflect  upon  present  botanical 
and  zoological  conditions  and  modern  sedimen- 
tation it  is  evident  that  any  such  assertion  of 
contemporaneity  is  a  mere  assumption.  Sup- 
pose, for  instance,  that  some  portion  of  Europe 
should  be  sul)merged,  covered  with  marine  de- 
posits, and  then  lifted  again  above  the  sea.  The 
river  terraces  and  lacustrine  marls  formed  before 
the  time  of  Julius  Csesar  could  not  be  distin- 
guished by  any  fossil  tests  from  those  laid  down 
ill  the  days  of  Victoria  (unless  the  works  of  man 
could  be  found  to  indicate  human  progress  dur- 
ing the  two  thousand  years  which  intervened). 
So  far  as  shells,  bones,  and  plants  are  concerned, 
their  relative  ages  could  not  be  distinguished 
from  each  other.  Thej^  would  be  classed  as 
geologically  contemporaneous,  yet  there  might 


11)4  GENESIS    AND    MODEEX    SCIENCE. 

be  a  difference  of  two  thousand  years  between 
them.  In  fact,  strict  contemporaneity  cannot 
be  declared  of  any  strata  simply  because  their 
fossil  contents  are  similar  or  even  identi- 
cal. The  term  "  geologically  contemporaneous," 
though  found  in  geological  literature,  is  too 
vague  to  have  any  chronological  value.  To 
speak  of  two  formations  as  contemi3oraneous 
which  may  have  been  separated  by  thousands 
of  years  is  a  misuse  of  language. 

Under  the  conditions  at  present  existing  on 
the  earth  we  find  that  identity  or  similarit}"  of 
genera  or  species  holds  good  only  for  limited 
areas.  The  wider  the  range  of  observation,  the 
more  varied  are  the  forms  of  life.  Vegetation 
alters  its  aspect  from  clime  to  clime,  and  in  like 
manner  there  is  a  change  in  the  character  of 
animal  life.  A  lake-bottom  in  England  and 
another  at  the  foot  of  the  Himalaya  Mountains 
present  very  different  groups  of  organisms,  yet 
the  two  deposits  are  absolutely  co-eval,  existing 
at  the  same  moment.  It  thus  appears  not  only 
that  deposits  containing  the  same  kinds  of  or- 
ganic remains  may  vary  as  to  their  age,  but  also 
that  deposits  in  which  they  are  quite  different 
may  be  strictly  co-eval.  It'  at  the  present  time 
community  of  organic  forms  o])tains  only  in 
limited  regions,  so  it  may  have  been  in  ancient 
times.  Similarity  or "  identity  of  fossils  in 
formations  geographically  far  apart,  instead  of 
proving  contemj^oraneity,  may  rather  indicate 


THE   FOURTH   DAY.  195 

great  discrepancies  in  the  relative  age  of  de- 
posits, for  the  sj^read  of  any  one  species,  and  still 
more  of  any  group  of  species,  to  a  vast  distance 
from  the  original  center  of  dispersion  must  in 
most  cases  have  been  inconceivably  slow.  In- 
deed a  species  may  have  entirely  disappeared 
from  its  birthplace,  while  it  may  be  flourishing 
in  the  outward  circle  of  its  advance. 

Broadl}^  speaking,  the  grand  march  of  life  has 
been  from  lower  to  higher  forms  and  alike  in 
all  quarters  of  the  globe ;  but  while  the  succes- 
sion may  have  been  the  same,  the  rate  of  prog- 
ress may  have  been  very  different,  and  a  certain 
stage  of  progress  may  have  been  reached  in  one 
region  thousands  of  years  before  it  was  reached, 
in  another.  All,  therefore,  that  can  be  safely 
affirmed  is  that  geological  formations  in  differ- 
ent countries,  if  they  contain  the  same  or  a 
representative  assemblage  of  organic  remains, 
are  homotaxial  and  belong  to  the  same  epoch  in 
the  biological  development  in  each  region ;  but 
we  cannot  say  that  they  are  contemporaneous, 
unless  we  are  willing  to  include  in  that  term  a 
vague  period  of  thousands  of  years. i 

Dana  says :  "One  continent  may  have  received 
part  of  its  species  from  another  long  after  their 
first  appearance  on  that  other;  and  .  .  .  the 
exterminations  of  species  which  may  have  taken 

1  The  last  four  paragraphs  are  au  abridgment  from 
Geikie's  article  on  '*  Geology "  in  the  Unci/clajxedia 
Britannica  (ninth  edition). 


196  GENESIS    AND   MODEEN    SCIENCE. 

place  at  the  close  of  a  period  may  liave  been  far 
more  complete  in  one  region  than  in  another,  so 
that  certain  species  were  living  long  in  one  after 
their  disappearance  from  the  other."  ^ 

Consider  now  the  thermal  changes  of  climate 
caused  by  this  new  direction  of  the  axis  of  the 
earth.  The  Arctic  regions  thereafter  had  the 
sunlight  only  half  of  the  year.  They  moved 
away  from  the  sun,  not,  indeed,  so  far  as  they 
now  are,  but  so  far  that  they  became  a  temperate 
zone  and  Avere  no  longer  torrid.  The  lands  near 
the  equator,  which  before  were  the  colder,  then 
became  the  warmer  region.  What  must  have 
been  the  effect  on  life  in  the  northern  hemi- 
sphere ?  It  does  not  surprise  us  to  read  Professor 
Dana's  statement :  "  The  transition  from  Paleo- 
zoic to  Mesozoic  time  was  strongly  marked  in 
geological  history,  unequaled,  in  fact,  by  any  of 
earlier  date  after  the  Azoic  revolution, — in  which 
the  Laurentian  rocks  were  folded  and  crystal- 
lized,— and  by  any  in  later  ages  with  the  single 
exception  of  that  from  Mesozoic  to  Cenozoic'^ 
time.  The  events  which  give  it  this  prominence 
are  a  thoroughly  complete  extermination  of  ex- 
isting life,  an  extinction  of  several  great  Paleo- 
zoic races,  the  decline  of  others,  and  a  general 
change  in  the  character  of  the  life."  ■' 

What   more   satisfactory   cause   can   be   as- 

1  Text-book  of  Geologi/,  p.  46. 
^  Meaning  "recent  life." 
3  Manual  of  Geology,  p.  413. 


THE   FOURTH   DAY.  197 

signed  for  these  remarkable  changes  than  that 
now  given?  A  sudden  change  from  tropical 
to  temperate  heat,  or  from  temperate  to  tropi- 
cal heat,  must  have  destroyed  some  life  and 
caused  the  decline  of  other  life.  Suppose  a 
tropical  palm-tree  to  be  carefully  transported  to 
New  England  soil — would  it  survive  the  vicis- 
situdes of  the  New  England  climate  for  a  single 
year?  Supj^ose  an  apple-tree  to  be  carefully 
transplanted  from  Canada  to  the  banks  of  the 
Amazon — would  it  not  decline  in  vigor? 
Plants  accustomed  to  a  temperate  climate  might 
indeed  live,  though  feebly,  if  taken  to  a  trojjical. 
climate ;  but  plants  which  are  troj)ical  must  in- 
evitably perish  if  removed  to  cold  regions.  In 
the  case  of  this  great  transition  it  was  not  the 
plants  that  were  moved,  but  the  climate  itself. 
It  was  now  the  equatorial  regions  which  be- 
came torrid,  and  the  north  polar  region  which 
became  temperate. 

The  distribution  of  plants  as  well  as  of  ani- 
mals, and  the  causes  and  methods  of  that  dis- 
tribution, have  become  a  profound  question  for 
investigation.  The  best  authorities  in  the 
science  of  paleontological  botany,  "both  in 
Europe  and  America,  have  lately  reached  the 
conclusion  that  all  the  floral  types  and  forms 
revealed  in  the  oldest  fossils  of  the  earth  orio^i- 
nated  in  the  region  of  the  north  pole,  and  thence 
spread  first  over  the  northern  and  then  over  the 
southern  hemisphere,  proceeding  from  north  to 


198  GENESIS   AND    MODEEN    SCIENCE. 

south.  This  is  a  conception  of  the  origin  and 
development  of  the  vegetable  world  which  but 
a  few  years  ago  no  scientific  man  had  dreamed 
of,  and  which,  to  many  intelligent  readers  of 
these  pages,  will  be  entirely  new.  Its  jirofound 
interest,  as  related  to  the  present  discussion, 
will  at  once  be  seen."  ^ 

This  new  doctrine  has  been  established  by 
the  researches  of  Professor  Asa  Gray  of 
America,  Professor  Oswald  Heer  of  Switzer- 
land, Sir  Joseph  Hooker  of  England,  Otto 
Kuntze  of  Germany,  and  Count  G.  de  Saporta 
of  France.  Sir  Joseph  Hooker,  in  studying  the 
floral  types  of  Tasmania,  was  impressed  with 
the  fact  that  in  that  far-off  southern  land  "  the 
Scandinavian  tyj^e  asserts  his  prerogative  of 
ubiquity.''  He  says :  "  When  I  take  a  compre- 
hensive view  of  the  vegetation  of  the  Old 
World,  I  am  struck  with  the  appearance  it 
Xn-esents  of  there  having  been  a  continuous  cur- 
rent of  vegetation^  if  I  may  so  fancifully  express 
myself,  from  Scandinavia  to  Tasmania"  {The 
Flora  of  Australia^  p.  103).- 

^  Paradise  Found,  p.  87. 

-  Wallace  writes  in  Maud  Life  (p.  48G) :  "  We  have 
now  only  to  notice  the  singular  want  of  reciprocity  in 
the  migrations  of  nortliern  and  sonthern  types  of 
vegetation.  In  return  for  the  vast  number  of  Euro- 
pean plants  which  have  reached  Australia,  not  one 
single  Australian  plant  has  entered  any  part  of  the 
north  temperate  zone,  and  the  same  may  be  said  of 


THE   FOURTH   DAY.  199 

Professor  Heer,  writing  about  tlie  fossil  flora 
of  the  Arctic  regions  {Flora  Arctica  FossiUs, 
1868),  propounded  the  theory  that  the  BUdmiffS- 
herd,  or  mother  region,  of  all  the  floral  types  of 
the  more  southern  latitudes  was  originally  in 
"  a  great  continuous  Miocene  continent  within 
the  Arctic  circle,"  and  that  from  this  center 
these  types  had  been  radially  spread  southward. 
He  demonstrated  in  the  most  convincing  man- 
ner the  existence  in  Miocene  times  of  a  warm 
climate  and  of  rich  tropical  vegetation  in  the 
highest  attainable  Arctic  latitudes.^ 

In  this  connection  the  following  extract  from 
the  CornJiiU  Magazine  is  interesting:  "If  an 
intelligent  Australian  colonist  were  suddenly  to 
be  translated  backward  from  Collins  Street, 
Melbourne,  into  the  flourishing  woods  of  the 
Secondary  geological  period, — say  about  the 
precise  moment  of  time  when  the  English  chalk- 
downs  were  slowly  accumulating,  speck  by 
speck,  on  the  silent  floor  of  some  long-forgotten 
Mediterranean, — the  intelligent  colonist  would 
look  around  him  with  a  sweet  smile  of  cheerful 
recognition  and  say  to  himself,  with  some  sur- 
prise, 'Why,  this  is  just  like  Australia.'  The 
animals,  the  trees,  the  plants,  the  insects  would 
all,  more  or  less,  remind  him  of  those  he  had 

the  typical  soutlieni  vegetation  in  general,  whether 
developed  in  the  Antarctic  lands,  New  Zealand,  South 
America,  or  South  Africa." 
1  Paradise  Found,  p.  87  et  seq. 


200  GENESIS   AND   MODERN    SCIENCE. 

left  behind  liim,  in  Ins  bappy  borne  of  tbe  sontb- 
ern  seas  and  tbe  nineteenth  century.  The  sun 
would  have  moved  back  on  tbe  dial  of  tbe  ages 
a  few  million  summers  or  so,  indefinitely  (in 
geology  we  refuse  to  be  bound  by  dates),  and 
would  have  landed  him  at  last,  to  his  immense 
astonishment,  pretty  much  at  the  exact  point 
whence  be  first  started. 

"  In  other  words,  with  a  few  needful  excep- 
tions to  be  made  hereafter,  Australia  is,  so  to 
speak,  a  fossil  continent — a  country  still  in  its 
Secondary  age,  a  surviving  fragment  of  the 
primitive  world  of  the  chalk  period  or  earlier 
ages.  Insulated  from  all  the  remainder  of  tbe 
earth  about  tbe  beginning  of  the  Tertiary 
epoch, — long  before  the  mammoth  and  tbe  mas- 
todon bad  yet  dreamed  of  appearing  upon  the 
stage  of  existence,  long  before  tbe  first  shadowy 
ancestor  of  the  horse  bad  turned  tail  on  nature's 
rough  draft  of  tbe  still  undeveloped  and  un- 
specialized  lion,  long  before  the  extinct  dinothe- 
rium  and  gigantic  Irish  elk  and  colossal  giraffes 
of  late  Tertiary  time  had  even  Ijegun  to  run 
their  race  on  tbe  broad  plains  of  Europe  and 
America, — the  Australian  continent  found  itself 
at  an  early  period  of  its  development  cut  off 
entirely  from  all  social  intercourse  with  the  re- 
mainder of  our  planet,  and  turned  upon  itself, 
like  tbe  German  philosopher,  to  evolve  its  own 
plants  and  animals  out  of  its  own  consciousness. 
Tbe  natural  consequence  was  that  progress  in 


THE   FOUETH   DAY.  201 

j^.ustralia  has  been  absurdly  slow,  and  tliat  the 
country  as  a  whole  has  fallen  most  wofully  be- 
hmd  the  times  in  all  matters  pertaining  to  the 
existence  of  life  upon  its  surface.  Everybody 
knows  that  Australia  as  a  whole  is  a  very 
peculiar  and  original  continent.  Its  peculiarity, 
however,  consists,  at  bottom,  for  the  most  part, 
in  the  fact  that  it  still  remains  at  very  nearly 
the  same  early  point  of  development  which 
Europe  had  attained  a  couple  of  million  years 
ago  or  thereabouts.  *  Advance,  Australia,'  says 
the  national  motto ;  and,  indeed,  it  is  quite  time 
nowadays  that  Australia  should  advance — for, 
so  far,  she  has  been  left  out  of  the  running  for 
some  four  mundane  ages  or  so,  at  a  rough  com- 
putation." 1 

"  Australia  shows  a  singular  development  of 
low  types  of  life,  as  though  in  the  progress  of 
evolution  this  continent  had  been  left  a  whole 
geological  age  behind  the  others."  - 

Paleozoic  life  may  have  reached  the  southern 
hemisphere  long  after  it  disappeared  from  the 
northern,  and  lingered  there  for  a  while,  as  long 
as  climatic  conditions  were  favorable. 

This  change  in  the  direction  of  the  earth's  axis 
must  have  wrought  a  radical  effect  in  the  south- 
ern hemisphere.  The  ice-bound  equatorial 
regions  now  feel  for  the  first  time  the  intense 
heat  of  the  sun,  and  the  thick  masses  of  ice 

1  Popular  Science  MontJih/,  vol.  xxxiii.,  p.  682. 

2  Ibid.,  vol.  xxxvii.,  p.  313. 


202  GENESIS   AND    MODERN    SCIENCE. 

yield  to  its  powei'.  There  is  a  breaking  up  of 
the  great  ice-fields  which  cover  the  southern 
ocean.  Farther  and  farther  south  the  open  sea 
prevails  as  the  ice  is  melted  away  by  the  sun, 
now  regularly  visiting  the  southern  heavens. 
Yet  even  to  this  day  the  ice  has  not  been 
melted  back  to  its  destined  domain,  and  the 
wonderful  difference  between  northern  and 
southern  temperature,  which  we  have  already 
noted,  is  a  present  fact  telhng  us  of  a  greater 
difference  which  prevailed  in  the  earlier  epochs. 
This,  I  believe,  w^as  the  glacial  period  of  the 
southern  hemisphere.  That  of  the  northern 
hemisphere  will  be  mentioned  later.  The  grind- 
ing action  of  the  moving  ice,  the  deposits  left 
as  it  drifted,  date  from  this  age  of  the  melting 
away  of  the  ice  of  Paleozoic  time.  In  Patago- 
nia there  are  found  great  quantities  of  bowlder 
clay — a  stiff  clay  containing  bowlders  of  all  sizes, 
some  w^eighing  as  much  as  one  thousand  and  two 
thousand  tons.  The  origin  of  this  remarkable  de- 
posit has  been  ascribed  to  the  former  prevalence 
of  glacial  ice.  "Professor  Agassiz  and  his  co- 
adjutors believe  that  the  red  soil  and  immedi- 
ately underlying  beds  seen  at  Rio  Janeiro  and 
in  the  valley  of  the  Amazon  are  true  glacial 
formations,  and  infer  that  the  similar  beds 
which  are  spread  over  so  enormous  an  area 
in  South  America  have  been  formed  under 
similar  conditions.  Professor  Agassiz  has 
found  moraines  and  ice-transported  bowlders  in 


THE   FOUETH   DAY.  203 

various  places  in  the  mountains  of  Brazil,  as 
also  indications  of  valley  glaciers."  ^ 

Some  geologists  have  concluded  "that  over 
India,  Australia,  and  South  Africa  there  were 
glacial  conditions  in  the  Permian  era,  a  time 
when  Europe  and  America  were  under  luxuriant 
vegetation."  "^ 

1  Encyclopaedia  Bntmuika  (ninth  edition),  p.  673, 
article  "  America." 

2  Manual  of  Geohxji/,  Dana  (fourth  edition),  p.  698. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

THE    FIFTH    DAY. 

"  And  God  said,  Let  ttie  waters  bring  forth  abun- 
dantly the  moving  creature  that  hath  life,  and  fowl 
that  may  fly  above  the  earth  in  the  open  firmament 
of  heaven. 

"  And  God  created  great  whales,  and  every  living 
creature  that  movetli,  which  the  waters  brought 
forth  abundantly,  after  their  kind,  and  every  winged 
fowl  after  his  kind :  and  God  saw  that  it  was  good. 

"  And  God  blessed  them,  saying,  Be  fruitful,  and 
multiply,  and  fill  the  waters  in  the  seas,  and  let 
fowl  multipl}^  in  the  earth. 

''  And  the  evening  and  the  morning  were  the  fifth 
day." 

In  discussing  the  events  of  "  the  fifth  day  "  the 
difficulty  lies  principally  in  finding  an  accurate 
translation  of  the  sacred  text.  Until  this  is  ac- 
complished it  is  useless  to  attempt  any  harmo- 
nization of  this  Scripture  with  the  results  of 
geological  investigation.  It  has  been  very  gen- 
erally assumed  that  this  passage  refers  to  the 

204 


THE   FIFTH   DAY.  205 

creation  of  fishes  and  of  fowls;  and  this  evi- 
dently was  the  belief  of  the  translators  of  the 
Authorized  Version,  as  shown  by  their  reading, 
"  And  God  created  great  ichales  " ;  and  although 
the  translators  of  the  Revised  Version  have 
substituted  sea-monsters  for  whales,  they  evi- 
dently had  the  opinion  that  fishes  are  referred 
to,  for  in  all  other  resj^ects  they  have  followed 
the  older  translation.  But  if  the  creation  of 
fishes  is  here  narrated,  the  conclusion  seems  in- 
evitable that  the  creation  of  birds  took  place 
at  the  same  time.  The  testimony  of  the  rocks, 
however,  is  that  the  creations  of  these  two  orders 
of  creatures  were  not  simultaneous.  Fishes 
abounded  in  the  Devonian  age,  which  was  char- 
acteristically the  "  Age  of  Fishes,"  while  birds 
first  appeared  in  the  Triassic  period. 

Let  us  first  of  all,  therefore,  endeavor  to  as- 
certain the  exact  meaning  of  this  passage  of 
Scripture,  and  acce])t  the  results  of  our  investi- 
gation without  fear  or  hesitation — ^whether  or 
not  they  agree  with  our  preconceived  notions, 
or  are  at  variance  with  long-cherished  opinions. 
The  fact  that  in  this  single  passage  there  are 
four  marginal  readings,  two  of  which  are  radi- 
cally different  from  the  main  text,  shows  how 
puzzled  the  translators  were. 

"  Let  the  icaters  bring  forth."  The  animals 
to  be  created  were  water-animals,  or,  at  least, 
animals  which  should  be  brought  forth  from 
the  waters. 


206  GENESIS   AND   MODERN    SCIENCE. 

"Bring  fortli  abundantly."  The  verb  is 
sJiarats,  meaning  to  sivarm.  Hence  the  Re- 
vised Version  lias  the  marginal  reading,  "swarm 
with  swarms  of  living  creatures." 

"  The  moving  creature."  The  word  is  sherets, 
the  creeping  thing. 

The  Douay  Version  in  this  respect  is  more 
accurate  than  the  other  versions  mentioned. 
Its  rendering  of  verse  20  is  as  follows :  "  God 
also  said :  Let  the  waters  bring  forth  the  creep- 
ing creature  having  life,  and  the  fowl  that  may 
fly  over  the  earth  under  the  firmament  of 
heaven." 

The  correct  translation  of  sherefs  is  of  impor- 
tance in  this  investigation.  It  is  certainly  a 
fair  test  to  compare  with  the  translation  of  this 
word,  in  the  verse  under  review,  the  translation 
of  it  in  other  passages  of  Scripture.  Dr.  Hughes 
says,^  "  The  word  shercts  occurs  repeatedly  in 
Scripture,  and  is  always  translated  "  creeping," 
so  far  as  I  can  discern,  except  on  one  other 
occasion,  in  Leviticus  xi.  10,  when  it  is  again 
translated  '  move.' "  In  Leviticus  xi.  10  it  seems 
to  me,  however,  that  fishes  are  referred  to. 
Other  instances  are :  Leviticus  v.  2 ;  xi.  43-46 ; 
xxii.  5.  These  do  not  throw  any  light  on 
this  inquiry.  Genesis  vii.  21-23:  "And  all 
flesh  (lied  that  moved  upon  the  earth,  both  of 
fowl,  and  of  cattle,  and  of  beast,  and  of  every 
creeping  thing  that  creepeth  upon  the  earth, 
1  Genesis  and  Geolotji/,  p.  100  et  seq.- 


THE   FIFTH   DAY.  207 

and  every  man :  all  in  whose  nostrils  was  the 
breath  of  life,  of  all  that  was  in  the  dry  land, 
died.   And  every  living  substance  was  destroyed 
which  was  uj^on  the  face  of  the  ground,  both 
man,  and  cattle,  and  the  creeping  things,  and 
the  fowl  of  the  heaven ;  and  they  were  destroyed 
from  the  earth :  and  Noah  only  remained  alive, 
and  they  that  were  with  him  in  the  ark."    Here 
the  creeping  things  must  refer  to  land-animals, 
having  nostrils  to  breathe  the  breath  of  life. 
It  is  nowhere  stated  in  the  Bible  that  all  fishes 
w-ere  destroyed  by  the  Flood,  nor  are  we  told  that 
Noah  preserved  alive  in  the  ark  any  marine  ani- 
mals.    Leviticus   xi.    20-23:   "All   fowls   that 
creep,  going  upon  all  four,  shall  be  an  abomi- 
nation unto  you.    Yet  tliese  may  ye  eat  of  every 
flying  creeping  thing  that  goeth  upon  all  four, 
which  have  legs  above  their  feet,  to  leap  withal 
upon  the  earth;   even  these  of  tliein  ye  may 
eat;   the  locust  after  his  kind,  and  the  bald 
locust  after  his  kind,  and  the  beetle  after  his 
kind,  and  the  grasshopper  after  his  kind.     But 
all  other  flying  creeping  things,  which  have  four 
feet,  shall  be  an  abomination  unto  you."     It  is 
very  evident  that  the  creeping  things  mentioned 
in  this  passage  are  not  fishes.     The  Eevised 
Version  substitutes  cricket  for  hectic,  and  in  the 
margin  says  of  the  winged  creatures  mentioned, 
"  Four  kinds  of  locusts  or  grasshoppers,  which 
are  not  certainly  known."    Leviticus  xi.  29,  30: 
"  These  also  shall  be  unclean  unto  you  among 


208  GENESIS   AND   MODERN   SCIENCE. 

the  creeping  things  tliat  creep  upon  the  earth ; 
the  weasel  [cJioIed],  and  the  mouse  [akbar],  and 
the  tortoise  [tsah]  after  his  kind,  and  the  ferret 
[ariaqah],  and  the  chameleon  [koacJi],  and  the 
lizard  [letaah],  and  the  snail  [chomet],  and  the 
mole  [tliishemeth]"  This  seems  a  very  impor- 
tant passage  in  this  investigation,  especially  in 
the  form  in  which  it  appears  in  the  Revised 
Version :  "  the  weasel,  and  the  mouse,  and  the 
great  lizard  after  its  kind,  and  the  gecko,  and 
the  land-crocodile,  and  the  lizard,  and  the  sand- 
lizard,  and  the  chameleon."  The  marginal  note 
reads, — as  to  the  foiir  preceding  the  chameleon, — 
"  Words  of  uncertain  meaning,  but  probably  de- 
noting four  kinds  of  lizards."  The  Douay  Ver- 
sion has  it:  "the  weasel,  and  the  mouse,  and 
the  crocodile,  every  one  according  to  their  kind, 
the  shrew,  and  the  chameleon,  and  the  stellio, 
and  the  lizard,  and  the  mole." 

The  Revised  Version  is  doubtless  the  most 
scholarly  translation.  Gecko  signifies  a  noctur- 
nal lizard,  a  species  widely  distributed  in  the 
torrid  zone,  a  picture  of  which  is  to  be  seen  in 
Wch.st('y''.'s  UnalnhJfjed  Dkilovary.  The  stellio 
(Latin,  stcUio)  is  a  newt  having  star-like  spots 
on  its  back,  from  stelhi,  a  star;  in  zoology,  a 
lizard,  common  about  the  Mediterranean.  The 
chameleon  is  a  well-known  member  of  the  sau- 
rians  or  lizards,  one  of  the  orders  of  the  class  of 
reptiles.  Of  the  eight  kinds  of  animals  men- 
tioned, six  are  reptiles.     Leviticus  xi.  41,  42: 


THE   FIFTH   DAY.  209 

"And  every  creeping  thing  that  creepeth  upon 
the  earth  shall  be  an  abomination ;  it  shall  not 
be  eaten.  Whatsoever  goeth  npon  the  belly, 
and  whatsoever  goeth  upon  all  fonr,  or  whatso- 
ever hath  more  feet  among  all  creeping  things 
that  creep  upon  the  earth,  them  ye  shall  not 
eat."  To  what  creature  do  the  words  apply, 
"goeth  upon  the  belly"?  Very  evidently  the 
serpent.  "  U]3on  thy  belly  shalt  thou  go  "  (G-en. 
iii.  14).  Serpents  belong  to  the  order  of  OpJiidia, 
which  is  one  of  the  three  orders  of  the  class  of 
reptiles.  Fishes  form  a  class  of  the  grand 
division  of  vertebrates,  but  no  vertebrate  has 
more  than  four  locomotive  appendages.  There- 
fore the  words  "whatsoever  hath  more"  than 
four  "feet"  must  refer  to  some  other  division, 
probably  to  the  articulates,  which  include 
crustaceans  and  worms.  The  only  other  pas- 
sage containing  the  word  shcrefs,  so  far  as  I 
know,  is  Deuteronomy  xiv.  19:  "And  every 
creeping  thing  that  flieth  is  unclean  unto  you." 
This  is  a  repetition  of  Leviticus  xi.  20,  to  which 
reference  has  already  been  made. 

To  determine  further  what  kinds  of  creatures 
are  referred  to  in  this  passage,  let  us  consider 
how  the  creative  command  was  fulfilled.  In 
every  other  instance  in  this  chapter  the  divine 
fiat  was  exactly  obeyed.  Certainly  this  instance 
is  not  an  exception. 

"  Grod  created  great  whales."  The  word  for 
ivJiale  is  tannin.    It  is  of  frequent  occurrence  in 


210  GENESIS   AND   MODERN    SCIENCE. 

the  Scriptures.  In  two  other  passages,  Ezekiel 
xxxii.  2  and  Job  vii.  12,  it  is  translated  "  whale." 
Three  times  it  is  translated  "  serpent " — Exodus 
vii.  9, 10,  12  :  "  Take  thy  rod,  and  east  it  before 
Pharaoh,  and  it  shall  become  a  serpent."  In  all 
other  passages  it  is  rendered  "  dragon."  "  It  is 
a  great  puzzle  to  lexicographers.  Gresenius  gives 
it  three  meanings;  first,  a  water-serpent,  sea- 
monster,  dragon ;  second,  a  land-serpent,  drag- 
on ;  third,  a  crocodile  (not  whale).  But  what  a 
dragon  is  it  would  be  difficult  for  any  one  to 
explain.  The  root  meaning  of  the  word  tauuecn 
is  a  long  animal,  from  taunan,  which  means  to 
extend.  And  one  thing  is  very  certain  and  evi- 
dent to  any  one  who  will  be  at  the  pains  to  ex- 
amine: that  the  animal  into  which  Moses'  rod 
was  turned  is  called  both  naliash  (which  ordi- 
narily means  serpent)  and  also  tanneen.  This 
would  seem  to  imply  that  tanneen  sometimes 
means  a  serpent,  which  is  a  long  animal.  It  is 
clear,  too,  that  on  four  other  occasions — once 
in  Psalms  Ixxiv.  13,  twice  in  Isaiah,  xxvii.  I  and 
li.  9,  and  once  in  Ezekiel  xxix.  3 — it  means  a 
crocodile,  which  is  also  a  long  animal.  It  is  still 
further  certain  that  tanneen  is  a  name  applied  both 
to  animals  living  on  the  land  and  in  the  water, 
and,  therefore,  cannot  mean  a  whale.  Tanneen- 
ini  are  in  various  places  represented  as  having 
hard  heads  and  being  difficult  to  kill  (as,  for  ex- 
ample, the  crocodile),  also  as  crying,  as  snuffing 
up  the  wind,  as  dwelling  in  the  ruins  of  cities, 


THE   FIFTH   DAY.  211 

as  l)eing  long  animals,  as  being  poisonous,  and 
as  ])iting.  There  is  no  animal  that  seems  to  fill 
all  these  conditions  except  the  lizard  kind.  But 
this  cannot  be  doubted :  that  all  authority  proves 
that  the  crocodile  or  lizard  kind,  and  the  ser- 
pent, will  answer  to  every  peculiarity  of  the 
tanneen  of  Scripture ;  and  therefore  those  great 
tanneenim  of  the  fifth  day  were  large  animals 
either  of  the  serpent  or  crocodilian  character."  ^ 
But  serpents  and  lizards  are  included  in  the 
class  of  reptiles. 

On  "the  fifth  day,"  besides  creating  great 
"whales,"  God  created  "every  living  creature 
that  moveth."  This  cannot  mean  that  he  cre- 
ated every  other  kind  of  living,  moving  creat- 
ures on  that  day,  for  we  are  expressly  told 
that  on  "the  sixth  day"  he  created  beasts  and 
cattle.  In  verse  21  "  the  word  translated  '  mov- 
eth'is  not  sherets,  but  raumas.  But  Gesenius 
gives  no  other  meaning  to  raumas  ])ut  that 
of  '  crawling '  or  '  creeping.'  Although  on  some 
rare  occasions  these  words  may  mean  '  moving,' 
this  is  not  their  ordinary  meaning.  If  you 
will  refer  to  a  concordance  for  the  places  in 
which  the  words  creeping^  creej),  and  the  like 
occur  in  our  English  translation,  and  then  refer 
to  the  original  word  in  the  Hebrew  text,  you 
will  find  that  in  every  instance,  if  a  verb,  it  is 
either  raumas  or  shaurats;  or,  if  a  noun,  it  is 
either  the  noun  remes  or  sherets.  Unquestion- 
1  Genesis  and  Geology,  p.  103. 


212  GENESIS   AND  MODERN   SCIENCE. 

ably,  therefore,  the  creatures  that  the  waters 
were  to  bring  forth  were  to  be  not  moving,  but 
creeping  things,  or  reptiles."  ^ 

The  translators  of  the  Authorized  Version 
evidently  beheved  that  verses  20  and  21  narrate 
the  creation  of  fish.  "  What  was  more  natural 
than  that  they  should  suppose  that  the  account 
given  by  Moses  of  what  the  waters  brought 
forth  on  that  day  should  be  an  account  of  the 
creation  of  fish?  But,  in  fact,  fish  had  been 
created  long  before,  in  the  Devonian  age  of  the 
Paleozoic  era.  And  Moses  says  not  one  Avord 
about  fish.  He  speaks  of  reptiles  and  birds  only. 
To  make  him  speak  of  fish  the  Hebrew  is 
strained  from  its  plain  meaning.  Thus,  in 
translating  the  passage  we  are  considering  in 
verse  20,  the  translators  were  aware  that  tbey 
were  not  giving  a  literal  translation  of  the  He- 
brew, and,  evidently  supposing  that  this  was  an 
account  of  the  creation  of  fish  (which  it  was 
not),  and  not  understanding  how  the  motion  of 
fish  could  be  described  as  creeping,  they  substi- 
tuted moving  in  place  of  it."  - 

We  have  still  another  criterion  by  which  to 
understand  the  true  meaning  of  this  passage: 
"  Let  the  waters  bring  forth  abundantly  the  mov- 
ing [margin,  creeping']  creature  that  liath  life^ 

"The  words  translated  'creature  that  hath 
life'  are  in  the  original  Hebrew  nephesli  hai- 
yau.  ...  In  the  opinion  of  those  two  most  emi- 

1  Genesis  and  Geologij,  p.  100. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  99. 


THE   FIFTH   DAY.  213 

nent  Hebraists,  Geseuiiis,  the  author  of  the 
standard  Hebrew  Lexicon,  and  Young,  the  very 
learned  author  of  the  most  valuable  concord- 
ance m  existence,  as  well  as  the  author  of  a  lit- 
eral translation  of  the  Old  Testament — in  the 
opinion  of  these  most  eminent  scholars,  I  say, 
the  word  nephesh  here  indicates  av'r-breathing 
animals.  The  verb  uaupliash  means  to  breathe; 
and  so  the  root  meaning  of  the  noun  uephesli  is 
breath.  Gesenius  expressly  declares  that  in  this 
particular  instance,  as  also  in  verse  30,  the  true 
meaning  of  nephesli  Imiyau  is  the  breath  of  life. 
So  that'  the  passage  thus  rendered  would  be, 
'Let  the  waters  bring  forth  abundantly  the 
reptile  that  hath  the  breath  of  life.'  According 
to  Young  it  would  be,  '  Let  the  waters  bring 
forth  abundantly  the  breathing  creature  that 
hath  life.'  Although  the  word  nephesli  is  of 
very  frequent  occurrence,  and  is  variously  trans- 
lated, yet  after  the  examination  of  a  large  num- 
ber of  instances  where  it  is  used  (about  four 
hundred  and  fifty),  I  have  never  found  it  applied 
to  any  but  an  rt/>'-breathing  animal,  and  almost 
universally  to  human  beings,  although  it  un- 
questionably refers  to  inferior  animals  in  this 
chapter.  The  waters,  therefore,  clearly  were 
commanded  to  bring  forth  abundantly  air- 
breathhuf  reptiles.''''  ^ 

^  Genesis  and  Geologi/,  p.  101. 

''  Let  the  waters  swarm  a  swarm.  The  verb  is  e^d- 
dently  from  the  noun  reptilia,  the  lowest  and  most 
prohfic  kind  of  animals.     So  the  Jewish- Arabic  trans- 


214  GENESIS   AND   MODEEN   SCIENCE, 

Although  Dr.  Hughes  says  he  has  examined 
about  four  hundred  and  fifty  passages  contain- 
ing the  word  nephesh,  and  that  he  has  never 
found  it  applied  to  any  other  than  an  air- 
breathing  animal,  there  aTe,  in  fact,  upward 
of  six  hundred  and  fifty  passages  containing 
that  word,  and  in  one  passage  it  is  used  with 
reference  to  fish.  As  this  single  passage  might 
seem  to  corroborate  to  some  extent  the  trans- 
lation in  the  Authorized  Version,  it  is  impor- 
tant to  consider  it  fully.  The  passage  is  Isaiah 
xix.  10,  "  And  they  shall  be  broken  in  the  pur- 
poses [margin,  fouiuJatioiis]  thereof,  all  that 
make  sluices  and  ponds  for  fish"  (margin,  of 
llviiKj  thhuis).  The  word  here  translated  "fish" 
is  ncpliesli.  The  Douay  Version  has  it,  "  And 
its  watery  places  shall  be  dry:  all  tlie}^  shall 
mourn  that  made  pools  to  take  fishes."  Fausset 
thus  comments  on  the  passage:  "In  the  pur- 
poses, rather  the  foundations,  i.e.,  Hhe  nobles 
shall  be  broken,'  or  brought  low:  so  chapter 
iii.  1 ;  Psalm  xi.  3 ;  cf .  verse  13.  '  The  princes, 
the  siay  of  the  tribes.'  The  Arabs  call  a  prince 
'■  a  piUar '  of  the  people  (Maurer).  *  Their  icafcr- 
ing-frames  ^  {RoYslej).  'D/y/rr's' (Barnes).  ^All 
that  make  sluices,'  etc. ;  *  makers  of  dani.'^,''  made 
to  confine  the  waters  which  overflow  from  the 
Nile  in  artificial  fish-ponds  (Horsley).     '  Makers 

lator  renders  it  by  a  similar  dciioininative  verb,  made 
from  a  lizard.  Let  the  waters  bring  forth  lizards,  or 
swarm  witli  lizards"  [Lamje's  Commentary,  vol.  i., p.  171). 


THE   FIFTH   DAY.  215 

of  gain,'  i.e.,  the  common  people  who  have  to 
earn  tlieir  livelihood,  as  opposed  to  the  nohks 
previously  (Maurer)."  The  word  translated 
"sluices"  is  seker,  which  means  liire^  wage,  re- 
icard.  This  seems  to  make  the  passage  still 
more  obscure ;  but  on  referring  to  the  Revised 
Version  all  is  made  plain,  for  there  we  read, 
"  And  her  pillars  [margin,  foundations]  shall  be 
broken  in  pieces,  all  they  that  work  for  hire 
shall  be  grieved  in  souL^^  "Soul"  is  the  usual 
translation  of  nephesh.  Thus  the  sluices  disap- 
pear from  the  text  and  with  them  the  fishes 
also;  and  the  statement  still  holds  true  that 
nepliesli  is  never  used  in  the  Scriptures  of  any 
but  air-breathing  animals. 

The  word  irlndes  is  the  first  mention  of  fish 
in  our  common  version  of  the  Bible.  Strictly 
speaking,  however,  the  whale  is  not  a  fish,  al- 
though resembling  a  fish  in  shape.  It  is  a 
mammal,  bringing  forth  its  young  alive  and 
nourishing  them  with  milk ;  it  is  warm-blooded 
and  breathes  by  means  of  lungs,  and  has  all 
the  characteristics  of  the  class  of  Mamnudia. 
Therefore  the  use  of  the  word  tvJiales,  even  if  a 
proper  translation,  would  not  necessarily  prove 
that  fishes  as  a  class  were  created  at  that  time. 
The  true  word  for  fish  is  not,  however,  wanting 
in  this  chapter.  It  is  darjah,  and  a2:)pears  for 
the  first  time  in  verse  26,  and  is  repeated  in 
verse  28.  It  does  not  appear  in  verses  20  or  21, 
and  its  omission  there  is  very  significant. 


216  GENESIS   AND    MODERN    SCIENCE. 

The  result  of  this  study  seems  clear  and  un- 
questionable. These  verses  plainly  refer  to  the 
creation  of  reptiles  and  birds.  ^ 

Turning  now  to  the  rocky  archives  of  the 
earth's  history,  we  find  the  exact  counterpart 
of  the  Scripture  narrative  as  thus  interpreted. 
If  it  is  proper  to  interpret  the  record  of  nature 
by  the  supernatural  revelation,  it  must  be  proper 
to  interpret  Scripture  by  science  as  w^ell.  It 
is  precisely  at  this  juncture  that  we  find  in 
geology  the  fossils  of  the  first  reptiles  and  of 
the  first  birds.  The  whole  of  the  Mesozoic  time, 
whose  first  period  w^as  the  Triassic,  was  charac- 
teristically the  "  Age  of  Reptiles,"  and,  in  strict 

^  To  the  same  purport  is  the  opinion  of  Hugh  Miller 
{The  Two  Records,  pp.  30,  43) :  "  The  creative  fiat  went 
forth,  and  the  oviparous  animals,  birds  and  reptiles, 
came  into  existence."  This  ''  was  peculiarly  the  age 
of  egg-bearing  amimals,  winged  and  wingless.  Its 
wonderful  whales,  not,  however,  as  now,  of  the  mam- 
malian, but  of  the  reptilian  class,  must  have  tempested 
the  deep ;  its  creeping  lizards  and  crocodiles,  creatures 
some  of  which  more  than  rivaled  the  existing  elephant 
in  height  and  greatly  more  than  rivaled  him  in  bulk, 
must  have  crowded  the  plains,  or  haunted  by  myriads 
the  rivers  of  the  period ;  and  we  know  that  the  foot- 
prints of  at  least  one  of  its  many  birds  are  of  fully 
twice  the  size  of  those  made  by  the  horse  or  camel. 
It  was  peculiarly  and  characteristically  a  period  of 
whaledike  reptiles  of  the  sea,  of  enormous  creeping 
reptUes  of  the  land,  and  of  numerous  birds,  some  of 
them  of  gigantic  size." 


THE    FIFTH    DAY.  217 

conformity  with  the  sacred  text,  the  Triassic 
reptiles  were  water  species. 

These  reptiles  were  mostly  sanrians.  They 
were  literally  long,  extended  animals.  They 
were  very  numerous  and  of  great  variety.  The 
mosasaurs  were  immense  serpent-like  reptiles, 
measuring  75  to  80  feet  in  length.  The  ichtby- 
osaurs  were  swimming  saurians,  some  of  them 
40  feet  in  length,  with  jaws  6  feet  long.  The 
fossils  of  more  than  thirty  species  have  been 
discovered.  The  plesiosaurus  was  a  swimming 
saurian  from  20  to  40  feet  long,  with  a  neck 
containing  from  twenty  to  forty  vertebrae. 
Twenty-two  species  have  been  described.  In 
the  words  of  Buckland,  "  To  the  head  of  a  lizard 
it  united  the  teeth  of  a  crocodile,  a  neck  of  enor- 
mous length,  resembling  the  body  of  a  serpent, 
a  trunk  and  tail  having  the  proportions  of  an 
ordinary  quadruped,  the  ribs  of  a  chameleon, 
and  the  paddles  of  a  whale."  There  were  flying 
saurians  called  pterosaurs,  of  which  about  thirty 
species  have  been  found.  Of  these  the  ptero- 
dactyls were  somewhat  like  bats,  some,  indeed, 
comparatively  small,  but  others  having  a  spread 
of  wing  20  feet  from  tip  to  tip.  There  were 
enormous  reptilian  birds,  having  jaws  4  feet 
long  and  a  wing-spread  of  25  feet.  The  laljy- 
rinthodont  was  a  gigantic  sauroid  batrachian, 
whose  well-known  foot-tracks  occur  in  the  Tri- 
assic rocks.  "Tracks  of  birds  which  lived  in 
the  Triassic  period  are  common  in  the  sand- 


218  GENESIS   AND   MODEKN   SCIENCE. 

stone  of  the  Connecticut  Valley,"  ^  and  furnish 
the  first  evidence  of.  bird  life.  The  fossil  re- 
mains of  birds  are  rare.  Being  gifted  with  tlie 
power  of  aerial  flight,  they  easily  avoided  the 
catastrophes  wliich  overtook  land-animals ;  and 
when  birds  did  die  and  fall  into  the  sea,  the 
lightness  and  hollowness  of  their  bones  and  the 
spread  of  their  feathers  prevented  their  sinking 
into  the  ocean  depths  to  be  embedded  and  fos- 
silized in  the  sediment  of  the  sea.  They  prob- 
ably floated  upon  the  water  and  became  the 
prey  of  fishes. 

"We  may  pause  here  a  moment  to  contem- 
plate the  greatness  of  the  fact  we  have  been 
studying — the  introduction  into  our  world  of 
the  earliest  known  vertebrate  animals,  which 
could  open  their  nostrils  and  literally  '  breathe 
the  breath  of  life.'  All  previous  animals  that 
we  know,  except  a  few  Devonian  insects,  bad 
respired  in  the  water  l)y  means  of  gills,  or  sim- 
ilar apparatus.  Now  we  not  only  have  the  lit- 
tle land-snails,  with  their  imperfect  substitutes 
for  lungs,  but  animals  which  must  have  been 
able  to  draw  in  the  vital  air  into  capacious, 
chambered  lungs,  and  with  this  power  must 
have  enjoyed  a  far  higher  and  more  active  style 
of  vitality,  and  must  have  possessed  the  facidty 
of  uttering  truly  vocal  sounds.  ...  It  is  one  of 
the  remarkable  points  in  the  history  of  Creation 
in  Genesis  that  this  step  of  the  creative  work 
^  Manual  of  Zoiilofiji,  Toiiney,  p.  284. 


THE   FIFTH   DAY.  219 

is  emphatically  marked.  Of  all  the  creatures 
we  have  noticed  np  to  this  point  it  is  stated 
that  God  said,  'Let  the  waters  bring  them 
forth ' ;  l3ut  it  is  said  that  '  God  created '  great 
reptiles."  ^ 

The  principal,  if  not  the  only  objection  which 
can  l)e  fairly  taken  to  the  interpretation  herein 
set  forth  is  that  if  the  verses  under  considera- 
tion relate  to  the  creation  of  reptiles  and  birds, 
there  is  no  account  of  the  creation  of  fishes  in 
the  first  chaptQr  of  Genesis.  This  is,  indeed,  a 
startling  omission;  but  we  are  somewhat  pre- 
f)ared  for  it  by  a  very  similar  omission  in  the 
record,  of  the  Creation  on  "  the  third  day."  We 
have  already  commented  upon  that.  It  has 
been  shown  that  there  is  no  mention  made  in 
the  Scripture  narrative  of  the  creation  of  nuiy'iue 
plants.  So  here  we  find  that  there  is  no  men- 
tion of  the  creation  of  fishes,  marine  animals. 
The  evidence  of  geology  is  that,  before  fishes 
were  ushered  into  existence,  there  was  other 
marine  life.  The  radiates  and  the  mollusks  are 
found  fossilized  in  the  Lower  Silurian  strata. 
Indeed  the  Silurian  age  was  characteristically 
the  "Age  of  Mollusks."  The  radiates  consti- 
tute the  lowest  branch  of  the  animal  kingdom. 
There  are  at  least  10,000  living  species.  The 
mollusks  are  exceedingly  numerous  and  of  great 
variety.  According  to  Leunis,  there  are  16,732 
living  and  4,590  fossil  species,  exclusive  of  poly- 

^  The  Htonj  of  the  Earth  and  Mnu  Dawson,  p.  150. 


1^20  GENESIS   AND    MODEllN    SCIENCE. 

zoa;  and  it  is  probable  that  only  a  small  pro- 
portion of  the  naked  or  shell-less  moUusks  are 
known.^  Yet  of  these  great  races  of  animals 
there  seems  to  be  no  mention  in  the  Bible  nar- 
rative of  the  Creation.  It  is,  however,  to  be 
observed  that  all  these  omitted  classes  of  ani- 
mal life  are  submarine. 

In  considering  the  work  of  "  the  second  day  " 
we  remarked  upon  the  strange  omission  of  the 
divine  approval  of  it.  A  still  more  remarkable 
and  seemingly  more  important  omission  occurs 
in  the  narrative  of  "  the  sixth  day."  When  the 
Creator  made  the  living  creatures  of  "  the  fifth 
day,"  he  not  only  saw  that  they  were  good,  but, 
we  read,  "  God  blessed  them,  saying.  Be  fruit- 
ful, and  multiply,  and  fill  the  waters  in  the  seas, 
and  let  fowl  multiply  in  the  earth."  But  after 
he  made,  on  "  the  sixth  day,"  "  the  beast  of  the 
earth  after  his  kind,  and  cattle  after  their 
kind," — notwithstanding  "  God  saw  that  it  was 
good," — he  did  not  l)less  them  (so  far  as  the 
record  shows),  nor  command  them  to  be  fruitful 
and  multiply.  This  seems  very  strange,  when 
we  consider  that  the  animals  created  on  "the 
sixth  day  "  were  the  higher  classes — the  Mam- 
malia^ including  not  only  the  magnificent  beasts 
of  prey,  but  the  animals  which,  when  domesti- 
cated, have  proved  of  great  service  to  man; 
while  the  animals  created  on  "the  fifth  day  "  were 
much  inferior  in  beauty  and  structure,  and,  so 
1  Chambers's  Utiei/rhjmlia,  article  "  Mollusoa." 


THE   FIFTH   DAY.  221 

far  as  the  reptiles  are  concerned,  of  apparently 
less  importance  in  the  creative  plan.  Why  the 
divine  benediction  should  have  been  pronounced 
on  the  lizard  and  the  crocodile,  but  not  on  the 
coAv  or  the  horse,  we  cannot  exj^lain.  It  may 
be  thought  that  verse  28  supplies  this  defi- 
ciency when,  at  the  conclusion  of  the  sixth 
day's  work,  we  are  told,  "God  blessed  them, 
and  God  said  unto  them.  Be  fruitful,  and  multi- 
ply, and  replenish  the  earth  " ;  but  an  examina- 
tion of  the  passage  will  show  that  the  benedic- 
tion and  command  were  for  man  only,  for  the 
verse  continues,  "  and  subdue  it :  and  have  do- 
minion over  the  fish  of  the  sea,  and  over  the  fowl 
of  the  air,  and  over  ever 3^  living  thing  that  mov- 
eth  upon  the  earth."  If,  therefore,  we  find  the 
omission,  on  "  the  second  day,"  of  the  expression 
of  the  Creator's  approval  of  the  atmosphere  or 
firmament,  and,  on  "  the  third  day,"  the  omission 
of  any  reference  to  his  creation  of  submarine 
vegetation,  and,  on  "  the  sixth  day,"  the  omis- 
sion of  his  l)enediction  and  command  to  the 
mammals  which  he  had  made,  it  is  less  surprising 
to  discover  that  there  is  an  omission  of  a  record 
of  the  creation  of  submarine  animal  life.  As 
was  said  in  the  beginning  of  this  discussion,  the 
Bible  is  not  intended  to  be  a  complete  text-l)ook 
of  science.  All  that  we  can  reasonably  demand 
is  that  it  shall  be  consistent  with  science.  I 
claim,  and  believe  that  I  have  thus  far  proved, 
that  the  first  chapter  of  Genesis  is  scientifically 


222  GENESIS   AND   MODEKN   SCIENCE. 

correct  in  its  several  statements.  It  would  be 
absurd,  however,  to  expect  that  every  scientific 
truth  should  be  found  in  the  Bible.  The  Script- 
ures need  not  say  everything,  but  everything 
they  say  must  be  true. 

It  seems  quite  certain  that  there  is  another 
important  omission  in  these  annals  of  creation. 
Where  is  the  record  of  the  creation  of  insects? 
"  Insects  far  outnumber  all  the  other  memljers  of 
the  animal  kingdom  combined.  It  is  certain  at 
the  present  time  that  eigh  ty  thousand  presumably 
distinct  species  of  beetles  have  been  described, 
and  it  is  safe  to  assume  that  the  number  of  known 
species  of  other  orders  is  greater,  thus  giving  a 
total  of  about  two  hundred  thousand ;  and  yet  we 
are  only  on  the  threshold  of  a  knowledge  of  the 
forms  that  actually  exist  in  nature,  many  enor- 
mous groups  of  minute  forms  being  still  only  par- 
tially studied.  In  fact  it  may  be  confidently  an- 
ticipated that  some  day  the  number  of  known 
forms  will  not  fall  far  short  of  one  million."  ^  It 
would  almost  seem  that  the  insect  form  and 
mode  of  life  are  a  favorite  with  the  Maker.  But 
where  are  we  told  of  their  entrance  into  life  I  If 
anywhere,  in  verses  20  and  21 :  "  Let  the  waters 
bring  forth  .  .  .  fowl  that  may  fly  above  the 
earth  in  the  open  firmament  of  heaven.  And 
God  created  .  .  .  every  winged  fowl  after  his 
kind."  The  word  iov  foivl  is  oph,  which  is  sixty- 
one  times  in  the  Old  Testament  translated 
^  Encydoimdia  lirifaunica,  article  "Insects." 


THE   FIFTH   DAY.  223 

"  fowl,"  and  nine  times  "  bird."    Mention  of  in- 
sects in  the  Old  Testament  is  common.     The 
following  are  specially  named :  the  fly  (Eccles. 
X.  1 ;  Isa.  vii.  18),  the  moth  (Job  xxvii.  18 ;  Isa. 
1.  9),  the  scorpion  (Dent.  viii.  15 ;  Ezek.  ii.  6),  the 
beetle  (Lev.  xi.  22),  the  locust  (Ex.  x.  4;  Pro  v. 
XXX.  27),  the  grasshopper  (Judges  vi.  5 ;   Lev. 
xi.  22 ;  Amos  vii.  1),  lice  (Ex.  viii.  16,  17),  the 
ant  (Prov.  vi.  6;  xxx.  25),  the  spider  (Job  viii. 
14 ;  Prov.  xxx.  28),  the  hornet  (Ex.  xxiii.  28 ; 
Josh.  xxiv.  12),  the  bee  (Deut.  i.  44 ;  Isa.  vii.  18)^ 
and  the  flea  (1  Sam.  xxiv.  14).     Insects  are  a 
class  of  Articulates,  and  worms  are  another  class. 
We  have  references  to  worms  in  Job  xvii.  14 ; 
Jonah  iv.  7 ;  to  the  palmerworm  in  Joel  i.  4 ; 
Amos  iv.  9;  to  the  caterpillar  in  Joel  ii.  25; 
Psalm  cv.  34 ;  and  to  the  cankerworm  in  Naliuni 
iii.  15 ;  Joel  ii.  25.     But  none  of  these  are  men- 
tioned in  the  first  chapter  of  (renesis. 

Dr.  Hughes  says  that  "the  Hebrew  noun 
which  is  translated  'fowl,'  is  derived  from  the 
^Yovd  f/noiip,  which  means  fofli/.  Gesenius  gives 
n-un/  as  the  primary  meaning  of  the  word  trans- 
lated 'fowl,'  and  says  that  the  word  means  the 
n^mrjed  tribes.  Indeed  in  the  twentv-first  verse 
It  IS  expressly  said  that  they  were  iriifc/ed  fowl."  ' 
It  is  true  that  in  Leviticus  xi.  20-23  the  word 
oph  is  translated  in  one  instance  "fowl"  and 
m  another  "flying  creeping  thing":  "All 
fowls  that  creep,  going  upon  all  four";  "every 
^  Genesis  and  Gcologi/,  p.  107, 


224  GENESIS    AND   MODERN    SCIENCE. 

flying  creeping  thing  that  goeth  upon  all  fonr, 
which  have  legs  above  their  feet,  to  leap  withal 
upon  the  earth."  As  such,  beetles,  locusts,  and 
grasshoppers  are  mentioned.  The  Revised  Ver- 
sion translates  the  word  "winged  creeping  creat- 
ure." This  single  instance  of  the  translation 
of  oph  as  meaning  creatures  other  than  birds 
might,  upon  purely  exegetical  grounds,  justify 
the  broader  interpretation  of  the  passage  under 
review;  but  there  are  several  reasons  against 
including  insects  in  the  list  of  creatures  called 
forth  on  that  day.  First,  the  general  meaning 
and  use  of  the  word  do  not  favor  such  interpre- 
tation, but  the  meaning  of  the  word  must  be 
strained  to  include  them.  Secondly,  in  the  suc- 
cession of  creation  there  is  a  progression  from 
the  lower  to  the  higher  forms.  The  creatures 
called  into  existence  on  "the  fifth  day"  were  of 
a  higher  order  than  insects.  Thirdly,  the  geo- 
logical record  shows  that  birds,  reptiles,  and  in- 
sects did  not  come  into  being  at  the  same  time, 
but  while  birds  and  reptiles  are  found  in  the 
Triassic  strata,  insects  date  back  to  a  much 
earlier  period.  Six  forms  of  winged  insects 
have  been  found  in  the  Devonian  rocks  of  New 
Brunswick,  and  in  the  Carboniferous  rocks  are 
found  tli(^  remains  of  seven  orders,  including 
scorpions  and  spiders.  In  a  doubtful  matter 
like  this  it  would  be  unreasonable  to  enlarge 
the  ordinary  meaning  of  the  Hebrew  word  to 
include  insects,  and  then  claim  that  the  Script- 


THE   FIFTH   DAY.  225 

ure  record  is  untrue  because  the  geological 
evidence  proves  that  insects  existed  long  before 
reptiles  or  birds. 

To  many  persons  it  will  be  an  unwelcome 
thought  that  there  are  such  omissions  in  the 
Bible  record  of  the  Creation,  but  the  omis- 
sion of  the  divine  approval  of  the  work  of 
"  the  second  day "  and  of  the  divine  benedic- 
tion upon  the  higher  classes  of  animals,  and 
the  omission  of  reference  to  marine  vegetation, 
are  apparent  to  every  careful  reader,  and  can- 
not be  gainsaid.  While  it  may  be  practically 
impossible  to  find  a  sufficient  explanation,  still 
it  may  be  looked  for  in  this  direction :  "  The 
scriptural  history  of  Creation  is  a  history  of 
jiheuomena^^;  appearances  are  given,  not  a  state- 
ment of  modes  or  processes;  the  progress  of 
events  is  told  as  it  would  be  seen  by  an  on- 
looker. First  there  was  a  dark,  formless  mass. 
Then  it  moved.  Then  there  was  the  grand  out- 
burst of  light.  Not  a  word  is  said  about  com- 
bustion, but  the  phenomenon  of  light,  where 
all  before  was  dark,  is  noted.  The  characteristic 
phenomenon  of  "  the  second  day"  is  the  spread- 
ing apart  of  the  waters  to  form  the  expanse  or 
firmament.  Nothing  is  said  of  condensation,  but 
the  appearance  which  resulted  from  the  proc- 
ess is  stated.  On  "the  third  day"  the  fiat  was, 
"Let  the  dry  land  appear''^  {raah,  "be  seen"). 
Nothing  is  told  why  the  dry  land  appeared ;  we 
are  simply  informed  that  it  did  come  into  sight. 


226  GENESIS   AND   MODERN    SCIENCE. 

We  read  nothing  about  the  cooUng,  shrinking 
crust  of  the  earth  and  its  forming  into  folds 
and  wrinkles,  the  uppermost  portions  of  which 
rose  above  the  level  of  the  hitherto  universal 
ocean.  To  the  looker-on  it  seemed  as  if  "the 
waters  were  gathered  together  unto  one  place," 
and  that  the  dry  land  appeared,  coming  up  out 
of  the  water.  Soon  it  was  seen  that  this  land 
was  covered  with  verdure,  and  so  the  record 
reads.  On  the  sea  there  appeared  no  verdure, 
and,  therefore,  there  is  no  record  of  any.  The 
events  of  "  the  fourth  day  "  are  especially  phe- 
nomenal. To  persons  upon  the  earth  (had  there 
been  any)  the  apj)earance  would  have  been  that 
the  sun  was  moved  out  of  its  accustomed  place, 
and  set  in  such  a  new  position  as  to  rule  over 
the  day  and  over  the  night,  and  to  divide  the 
light  from  the  darkness.  The  appearance  to 
one  upon  the  earth  would  have  been,  not  that 
the  earth  was  moving,  but  that  the  sky  was 
slipping.  And  so,  in  the  narration  of  the  work 
of  "  the  fifth  day,"  it  is  only  the  creatures  that 
appeared,  that  were  in  sight,  which  are  men- 
tioned. To  this  extent  the  so-called  phenomenal 
theory  (of  Hugh  Miller  and  thinkers  of  his 
class)  is  perhaps  true. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

THE    SIXTH   DAY. 

"And  God  said,  Let  the  earth  bring  forth  the 
living  creature  after  his  land,  cattle,  and  creeping 
thing,^  and  beast  of  the  earth  after  his  kind :  and  it 
was  so. 

1  Dana  says  {Manual  of  GeoJogij,  p.  7(58)  that  creej)- 
iiig  is  equivalent  to  iwouTuig,  i.e.,  beasts  of  prey,  the 
carnivora.  The  word  is  relimes.  Delitzsch  {Neiv  Com- 
mentary^ vol.  i.,  p.  96)  defines  relimes  as  "  the  smaller 
creeping  animals  which  keep  closer  to  the  ground." 
Thomas  Whitelaw  {Pnlpit  Commentary,  vol.  i.,  p.  29) 
says,  "  Eehmes,  the  moving  animal,  i.e.,  the  smaller 
animals,  which  move  either  without  feet  or  with  feet 
scarcely  perceptible,  such  as  worms,  insects,  reptiles. 
Here  it  is  land-creepers  that  are  meant,  tlie  rehmes  of 
the  sea  having  been  created  the  day  before."  The 
"beast "of  the  earth  is  chayyax,  as  to  wliich  White- 
law,  commenting  on  the  same  verse,  says,  ^'CJiayyau, 
i.e.,  wild,  roving  carnivorous  beasts  of  the  forest." 

Hugh  MUler  {The  Two  Records,  p.  43),  who  char- 
acterizes "the  fifth  day"  as  the  time  when  o\dparous 
animals  appeared,  says  of  the  sixth  day's  creation,  "  The 

227 


228  GENESIS   AND   MODEEN   SCIENCE. 

''And  God  made  the  beast  of  the  earth  after  his 
kind,  and  cattle  after  their  kind,  and  every  thing 
that  creepeth  npon  the  earth  after  his  kind :  and 
God  saw  that  it  was  good. 

"And  God  said,  Let  ns  make  man  in  onr  image, 
after  onr  likeness:  and  let  them  have  dominion 
over  the  fish  of  the  sea,  and  over  the  fowl  of  the 
air,  and  over  the  cattle,  and  over  all  the  earth,  and 
over  every  creeping  thing  that  creepeth  nj)on  the 
earth. 

"  So  God  created  man  in  his  own  image,  in  the 
image  of  God  created  he  him ;  male  and  female 
created  he  them. 

"And  God  blessed  them,  and  God  said  nnto 
them.  Be  frnitfnl,  and  mnltiply,  and  replenish  the 
earth,  and  subdne  it :  and  have  dominion  over  the 
fish  of  the  sea,  and  over  the  fowl  of  the  air,  and 
over  every  living  thing  that  moveth  npon  the 
earth. 

''  And  God  said.  Behold,  I  have  given  yon  every 
herb  bearing  seed,  which  is  npon  the  face  of  all  the 
earth,  and  every  tree,  in  the  which  is  the  frnit  of  a 
tree  yielding  seed ;  to  yon  it  shall  be  for  meat. 

"And  to  every  beast  of  the  earth,  and  to  every 
fowl  of  the  air,  and  to  every  thing  that  creepeth 
npon  the  earth,  wherein  there  is  life,  I  have  given 
every  green  herb  for  meat :  and  it  was  so. 

"And  God  saw  every  thing  that  he  had  made, 
and,  behold,  it  was  very  good.  And  the  evening 
and  the  morning  were  the  sixth  day." 

creative  fiat  went  forth  and  the  mammiferons  animals, 
cattle  and  beasts  of  the  earth,  came  into  existence." 


THE    SIXTH   DAY.  229 

GrEOLOGY  confirms  the  Biljle  by  declaring  the 
creation  of  mammals  last  in  order  before  man. 
The  period  of  mammalian  life  is  known  as  the 
Cenozoic  age  and  is  divided  into  two  periods, 
the  Tertiary  and  Post-tertiary. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  comment  upon  the  great 
variety  of  animal  life  which  came  into  being  on 
"  the  sixth  day,"  but  it  is  important  to  call  atten- 
tion to  the  oft-repeated  Avords  "  after  his  kind," 
spoken  of  each  species  of  animals.  This  ex- 
pression is  significant  in  view  of  recent  theories. 
It  shows  that  there  was  no  blending  of  species, 
no  growth  of  one  out  of  another,  but  rather  an 
original  creation  of  each  race,  with  its  pecul- 
iarities which  it  cannot  pass.  Especially  does 
this  Scripture  speak  of  the  origin  of  man  by  a 
distinct  act  of  creation.  The  creative  words 
are  not,  as  before,  "  Let  the  waters  bring  forth," 
"  Let  the  earth  Ijring  forth,"  but,  "  God  said.  Let 
us  make  man  in  our  image,  after  our  Hkeness." 
"  And  the  Lord  God  formed  man  of  the  dust  of 
the  ground,  and  breathed  into  his  nostrils  the 
breath  of  life;  and  man  became  a  living  soul."i 

Both  the  Bible  and  geology  distinctly  affirm 
the  separate  creations  of  the  several  orders,  and 
disprove  the  theory  that  the  higher  orders  of 
animals  (including  man  himself)  have  been  de- 
veloped from  lower  forms.  When  we  remember 
how  confidently  a,t  times  some  scientists  have 
declared  that  spontaneous  generation  has  been 
1  Geu.  ii.  7. 


230  GENESIS    AND    MODERN    SCIENCE. 

demonstrated,  and  again  tliat  the  simple  proto- 
plasmic cell  not  only  can  be,  but  actually  hns 
been  developed  into  the  successive  species  of 
living  beings  which  have  peopled  the  earth 
(thus  making  life  and  even  thought  itself  mere 
phenomena  or  attributes  of  matter),  it  is  not 
strange  that  science  has  denounced  religion,  or 
that  religion  has  suspected  such  science.  True 
science  does  not  seek  to  banish  God  from  the 
universe  of  matter,  but  rather  rejoices  to  trace 
more  perfectly  his  woudrous  works  throughout 
the  wide  domains  of  nature. 

If  it  were  true  that  one  order  or  genus  was  de- 
veloped into  another,  and  so  on,  in  the  progression 
of  animate  life  upon  the  earth,  there  would  appear 
the  modified,  intermediate  forms  which  linked 
the  old  with  the  new,  and  we  should  find  in  the 
life-history  of  the  world  the  species  gradually 
blending  into  one  another  in  an  orderly,  onward 
development.  Dana  well  says :  "  The  study  of 
fossils  has  given  no  aid  in  this  direction.  It 
has  brought  to  light  no  facts  sustaining  a  theory 
that  derives  species  from  others,  either  by  a 
system  of  evolution  or  by  a  system  of  variations 
of  living  individuals,  and  bears  strongly  against 
both  hypotheses.  There  are  no  lineal  series 
through  creation  corresponding  to  such  methods 
of  development.  Instead  of  graduation  from 
moUusks  or  articulates  to  the  lower  fishes,  and 
so  on  upward,  the  fish-typo  commences  near 
its  summit -level,  or  either  between  the  level  of 


THE   SIXTH   DAY.  231 

the  typical  fish  and  that  of  a  higher  class  of  ver- 
tebrates. Were  either  of  these  plans  the  system 
in  nature,  examples  of  the  blending  of  the  sj^e- 
cies  would  be  common  through  all  the  classes, 
high  and  low,  and  North  America  would  afford 
them  as  successive  stages  between  the  old  ele- 
phant or  mastodon  and  earlier  species,  and  so 
throughout  the  various  tribes  of  life,  animal 
and  vegetable."  The  testimony  of  the  rocks 
and  the  declarations  of  Holy  Writ  alike  affirm 
the  creation  of  distinct  orders  of  animal  life, 
and  announce  precisely  the  same  succession  in 
the  Creation. 

Some  of  the  lowliest  forms  of  life,  vegetable 
and  animal,  have  remained  unchanged  from  the 
time  of  their  first  appearance  in  the  earliest 
stratified  rocks  to  the  x^i'^sent  day,  while  whole 
races  of  animals  have  been  ushered  into  being, 
multiplied  into  "  swarms,"  thrived,  and  prevailed 
for  long  periods,  but  have  become  wholly  ex- 
tinct, leaving  no  lineal  descendants,  even  in 
modified  forms.  It  is,  however,  true  that  a  pro- 
gressive plan  is  observable  in  nature.  Each 
successive  order  of  beings  has  a  more  complex 
structure  than  the  preceding  and  is  endowed 
with  new  functions.  When  a  new  organiza- 
tion has  been  introduced  in  the  creative  work, 
it  has  usually  been  persisted  in  and  developed. 
Even  where  new  functions  have  been  con- 
ferred, it  has  often  been  by  adaptations  of  pre- 
viously existing  forms  of  structure.    Yet  this 


232  GENESIS   AND   MODEIIN    SCIENCE. 

general  progress  of  a  method  in  creation  does 
not  prove  the  common  origin  of  all  the  species, 
or  an  inherent  power  of  a  species  to  become  a 
different  species.  The  fact  that  there  is  a  gen- 
eral nnity  of  design  in  the  bony  strnctnre  of  the 
vertebrates,  and  that  the  four  locomotive  ap- 
pendages of  the  reptile  are  essentially  the  same 
as  the  legs,  toes,  and  wings  of  the  bird  and  the 
legs,  toes,  arms,  and  fingers  of  man,  does  not 
prove  or  tend  to  prove  that  the  reptile  ever  be- 
came a  bird,  or  the  bird  a  man;  nor  does  the 
fact  that  the  ape  has  a  structure  and  organiza- 
tion similar  to  those  of  man  afford  any  reason 
to  believe  that  some  family  of  apes  has  devel- 
oped into  the  human  family. 

But  while  it  is  certainly  true  that  the  differ- 
ent species  are  distinctly  separate,  it  cannot  be 
doubted  that  great  variations  in  species  have 
been  caused  by  climatic  conditions,  migra- 
tions, domestication,  cross-breeding,  and  by  the 
struggle  for  life,  the  survival  of  the  fittest,  and 
by  the  principle  of  natural  selection,  wliich 
Darwin  and  thinkers  of  his  class  have  declared 
and  demonstrated.  A  species,  as  defined  by 
Buffon  and  Cuvier,  is  a  succession  of  individuals 
capable  of  reproducing  themselves.  But  to  the 
very  point  of  sterility  the  lineal  descendants  of 
common  progenitors  of  any  si^ecies  may  differ 
widely  from  them  and  from  each  other  simply 
because  of  diffei'ent  environment  and  the  ac- 
cumulation  and   perpetuation  of  peculiarities 


THE   HIXTII   DAY.  233 

by  heredity,  yet  all  be  strictly  of  tlie  same  spe- 
cies. 

Darwin  rejects  Lamarck's  theory  of  sponta- 
neous generation.  He  does  not  attempt  to  ac- 
count for  the  origin  of  life.  He  does  not  com- 
mit himself  to  the  Lamarckian  doctrine  that  all 
existing  forms  of  life  (including  man)  have 
descended  by  a  true  generation  from  pre-exist- 
ing and  inferior  organizations.  He  does  not 
assert  that  any  genus  has  been  developed  from 
a  preceding  one.  His  theory  is  not  that  of  a 
variation  of  genera,  but  of  species.  Within 
proper  bounds  the  idea  of  variation  of  si3ecies 
is  not  repugnant  to  reason  or  religion.  The 
principal  objection  that  can  be  made  is  the  im- 
probability that  the  great  variety  of  species 
could  lia^^e  been  wrought  out  in  the  limited 
time  heretofore  allowed  by  the  biblical  chronol- 
ogy. If  time  enough  for  these  changes  is 
granted,  they  are  reasonable.  Of  that  phase  of 
the  subject  consideration  will  be  given  in  a  sub- 
sequent chapter. 

An  interesting  inquiry  now  in  place,  and  aris- 
ing from  the  jDremises  stated,  is  this :  At  what 
time  in  the  history  of  the  earth  did  njan  first 
appear?  If  these  premises  are  true,  it  follows 
necessarily  that  man  became  an  inhabitant  of 
the  earth  not  later  than  the  Mesozoic  age,  and 
probably  in  the  Triassic  period,  if  not  Ijefore; 
for  l)y  the  Bible  account  he  was  created  the 
next  day  after  the  introduction  of  reptiles  and 


234  GENESIS   AND   MODEEN    SCIENCE. 

birds,  which  we  know  first  appeared  in  the  Tri- 
assic.  This  is  a  time  long  anterior  to  the  date 
usually  assigned  by  geologists  for  the  origin  of 
human  life.  Let  us  briefly  consider  this  sub- 
ject. 

The  earliest  period  which  has  heretofore  been 
assigned  by  standard  authors  to  the  introduc- 
tion of  man  is  the  Post-tertiary  period  of  the 
Cenozoic  age.  But  why  is  this?  Was  not  the 
earth  fully  prepared  for  human  life  in  the  ear- 
lier periods,  even  as  early  as  the  TriassicI 
There  can  be  no  doubt  of  it.  The  sole  reason 
for  the  earlier  date  rests  upon  the  discoveries 
in  paleontology.  Human  remains  (so  far  as  is 
stated  in  standard  books)  have  not  been  found 
in  any  formation  earlier  than  the  Post-tertiary.^ 
Hence  the  paleontologist  has  concluded  that 
man  first  appeared  in  that  period. 

Such  is  the  argument,  but  the  reasoning  is 
inconsequential.  Let  us  first  consider  the  facts 
as  given  in  the  books,  and  ask  Avliere  fossilized 
human  remains  have  been  found  in  stratified 
deposits.  In  France,  Belgium,  England,  Ger- 
many, Italy,  Spain,  India,  Egypt,  and  North 
and  South  America.-     These  facts  simj^ly  prove 

'  Recent  discoveries  and  statements  found  in  late 
pei'iodical  and  other  literatnre  will  be  subsequently 
mentioned. 

-  In  the  Smithsonian  Institution,  Washington,  D.C, 
there  is  a  fragment  of  woven  sugar-cane  matting,  said 
to  have  been  found  in  a  deposit  of  salt  at  Petit  Anse 


THE   SIXTH   DAY.  ZoO 

that  man  had  then  reached  those  regions  of 
the  earth  and  perished  there.  They  do  not 
prove  that  he  originated  there  and  then.  Ob- 
serve that  all  these  places  are  in  Europe  and 
America,  not  one  of  them  near  or  adjacent  to 
the  region  where,  by  common  belief,  and,  as  it 
seems,  by  the  declaration  of  Scripture,  the  hu- 
man race  began  its  existence.  Let  us  summa- 
rize the  argument  of  Dana.  Man  is  of  one  spe- 
cies only.  He  originated  on  only  one  of  the  two 
great  continents.  Among  the  higher  mammals 
no  species  is  known  to  have  existed  originally 
Avithin  the  tropics  or  the  temi^erate  zones,  on 
l)oth  the  Oriental  and  Occidental  continents  (the 
former  including  Euroj^e,  Asia,  and  Africa,  and 
the  latter  North  and  South  America).  Now,  in 
which  of  these  two  continents  is  it  more  prob- 
able that  mankind  originated?^  "The  Orient 
has  always  been  the  continent  of  progress. 
From  the  close  of  the  Paleozoic,  its  species  of 
animal  life  have  been  three  times  as  numerous 
as  those  of  North  America,  and  more  varied  in 
genera.  In  the  earlier  Tertiary  its  flora  in  the 
European  portion  had  an  Australian  type,  and 
there  were  marsupials  and  edentates  there.  In 
the  middle  and  later  Tertiary  it  represented  re- 
cent North  America  in  its  flora.     But  from  this 

Lslaud,  Vermilion  Bay,  on  the  coast  of  Louisiana,  14 
feet  below  the  surface  of  the  salt  and  2  feet  below  the 
remains  of  tusks  and  bones  of  a  fossil  elephant. 
^  Manual  of  Geohxju,  Dana.  p.  584. 


236  GENESIS    AND    MUUEKN    SCIENCE. 

condition  it  emerged  to  a  higher  grade.  In 
the  Post-tertiar}'^  it  became  the  hind  of  the  car- 
nivores, while  North  America  was  the  conti- 
nent as  distinctly  of  the  herljivores,  an  inferior 
type ;  Sontli  America,  of  edentates,  still  lower ; 
Australia,  of  the  low^est  of  quadrupeds,  the  mar- 
supials. In  the  closing  creations  Australia  re- 
mained marsupial,  though  with  dwindled  forms ; 
South  America  was  still  the  land  of  edentates, 
but  of  smaller  species  and  with  inferior  carniv- 
ores and  the  inferior  type  of  monkeys  or  quad- 
rumana;  North  America,  of  herbivores,  also 
small,  compared  with  the  Post-tertiarj^ ;  while 
the  Orient,  besides  its  new  carnivores,  received 
the  highest  of  the  quadrumana.  Thus  the  Ori- 
ent had  successively  passed  through  the  Aus- 
tralian and  American  stages,  and  leaving  the 
other  continents  behind  it,  stood  in  the  fore- 
front of  progress.  It  was,  therefore,  in  accord- 
ance with  all  past  analogies  that  man  should 
have  originated  on  some  i)art  of  the  great  Orient, 
and  no  spot  would  seem  to  have  been  better 
fitted  for  man's  self-distribution  and  self-devel- 
opment than  south-western  Asia,  the  center 
from  which  the  three  grand  continental  divi- 
sions of  Europe,  Asia,  and  Africa  radiate."  ^ 

If  this  be  tlie  true  birthplace  of  the  human 
race,  we  may  expect  tliat  discoveries  will  some- 
time be  made  in  south-western  Asia  showing 
human  fossils  associated  with  Ti'iassic  (or  ear- 
^  Mdiixal  of  GfoJofji/,  Daua,  p.  585. 


THE   SIXTH   DAY.  237 

lier)  forms,  as  well  as  with  those  of  more  recent 
date.  Not  until  Asia  has  been  explored  and 
found  to  yield  onl}^  results  corresjDonding  with 
those  of  European  search  can  we  safely  say 
that  man  did  not  appear  until  the  Post-tertiary 
period. 

If  the  human  race  originated  in  Asia,  many 
centuries  must  have  passed  before  man  pene- 
trated to  the  confines  of  Europe.  Men  are 
naturally  gregarious.  When  they  were  compar- 
atively few  in  number,  dwelling  together,  speak- 
ing one  language,  and  identified  in  simple, 
primitive  life,  there  was  no  occasion  for  their 
straying  away  to  remote  regions.  They  would 
naturally  dwell  in  their  native  land,  for  neither 
commerce  nor  conquest  had,  at  that  early  age, 
become  the  active  cause  of  the  dispersion  of  the 
human  family  throughout  the  earth,  as  in  later 
times.  The  Bible  gives  a  simple,  adequate,  and 
evidently  truthful  account  of  the  first  dispersion 
of  men,  and  in  the  absence  of  any  evidence  to 
the  contrary  it  cannot  reasonably  be  doubted. 
By  that  history  we  are  informed  that  this  dis- 
persion occurred  after  the  Noachian  Deluge 
AVhen  the  earth,  after  the  Flood,  was  again  peo- 
pled with  men,  they  made  the  audacious  at- 
tempt to  build  a  tower  to  reach  to  heaven  and 
thus  defy  the  power  of  God,  whose  promise 
never  again  to  overwhelm  the  earth  by  flood 
they  did  not  believe.  Then  it  was  that  the 
Lord  confounded   their  language,  "and  from 


2'j8  genesis  and  modern  science. 

thence  did  the  Lord  scatter  them  abroad  upon 
the  face  of  all  the  earth"  (Gen.  xi.  9).  This 
event  occurred  (according  to  Archbishop  Usher's 
chronology)  in  the  year  224-7  B.C.,  or  nearly 
eighteen  hundred  years  after  the  creation  of 
Adam.  The  human  race,  thus  proceeding  from 
one  common  center,  gradually  spread  abroad  as 
their  wants  or  fancies  dictated,  but  it  is  very 
evident  that  it  might  have  been  several  centu- 
ries before  they  passed  to  the  uttermost  limits 
of  Euroj^e — to  France  and  England — or  beyond 
the  sea  to  America.  Suppose  we  estimate  that 
time  as  two  hundred  and  fifty  years  after  the 
dispersion  (and  surely  this  is  not  an  unreason- 
ably long  time),  then  we  would  fix  the  period 
of  their  residence  in  those  remote  regions  as 
late  as  2000  e.g.  It  would  not  be  surprising  if 
it  were  as  late  as  1500  b.c.  What,  then,  would 
the  discovery  of  their  bones  in  Post-tertiary 
formations  in  those  places  prove  f  Simply  this : 
that  the  Post-tertiary  period,  so  far  from  being 
in  prehistoric  times,  was  actually  far  advanced 
into  the  period  of  human  life  upon  the  earth, 
and  perhaps  not  more  than  three  or  four  thou- 
sand years  ago. 

Examining  the  character  of  these  fossil  evi- 
dences of  the  antiquity  of  man,  we  find  that 
they  consist  of  human  skulls  and  bones,  together 
with  flint  weapons  and  implements,  discovered 
in  caverns  and  in  high  drift-beds,  and  associated 
with   the   bones   of  the   elephant,   rhinoceros, 


THE   SIXTH   DAY.  239 

hyena,  and  several  extinct  species  of  animals. 
The  men  whose  relics  are  so  preserved  were 
the  eontemjitoraries  of  the  great  mammals  of  the 
Post-tertiary.  In  view  of  all  the  facts  Prestwich 
says,  "  The  evidence  from  the  occurrence  of 
human  relics  with  the  bones  of  extinct  animals, 
as  it  at  present  stands,  does  not  seem  to  me  to 
necessitate  the  carrying  of  man  back  in  past 
time,  so  much  as  the  bringing  forward  of  the 
extinct  animals  toward  our  own  times."  ^ 

We  may  reasonably  infer  that  these  human 
relics  are  not  of  pre-adamites,  as  scientists  have 
sometimes  asserted,  but  that  the  extinct  sf)ecies 
of  animals  are  thus  jirov^ed  to  have  been  more 
recent  than  supposed,  and  to  have  been  for 
many  centuries  contemporary  with  mankind. 
So  far  from  being  disturbed  by  these  revelations 
of  geology,  as  tending  to  show  that  the  human 
race  antedates  the  time  of  Adam,  the  Christian 
lieliever  should  rejoice  at  such  discoveries  and 
confidently  expect  that  in  Asia  there  will  yet  be 
found  human  remains  associated  with  animal 
fossils  of  a  still  earlier  period,  even  as  remote 
as  the  Triassic,  thus  proving  that  Adam  existed 
prior  to  the  time  usually  assigned. 

This  last  paragraph  was  first  written  several 
years  ago,^  yet  in  the  brief  time  which  has  since 

1  Manual  of  Geology,  Lyell,  p.  581 ;  Manual  of  Geol- 
ogy, Dana,  p.  582;  Chamhers^s  Encyclopedia,  article 
"Paleontology'."  2  188O. 


240  GENESIS   AND    MODEKN    SCIENCE. 

elapsed  the  prophecy  has  been  in  progress  of 
fnlfinment,  and  the  appearance  of  man  uj^on  the 
earth  has  been  dated  back  to  the  Pliocene,  then 
to  the  Miocene,  and  there  is  an  expectation  of 
even  more  ancient  traces  of  mankind. 

This  item  was  in  a  Philadelphia  newspajier 
of  March  24,  1880 :  "  Fossil  human  remains  are 
reported  to  have  been  found  near  Castenedolo, 
Lombardy.  They  were  embedded  in  a  stratum 
of  corals  and  seemingly  belong  to  the  Pliocene 
period." 

In  November,  1880,  the  following  was  pub- 
lished: "Professor  Marsh  observes  that  'the 
evidence,  as  it  stands  to-day,  although  not  con- 
clusive, seems  to  place  the  first  appearance  of 
man  in  this  country  [America]  in  the  Pliocene,' 
adding  that  '  the  best  proofs  of  this  are  found 
on  the  Pacific  coast.' "  ^ 

"E.  L.  Berthoud  reports  the  discovery  of  an- 
cient fire-places,  rude  stone  monuments,  and 
implements  of  stone  in  great  number  and  vari- 
ety in  several  places  along  Crow  Creek  in  Colo- 
rado, and  also  on  several  other  rivers  in  the 
\dcinity.  These  fire-places  indicate  several  an- 
cient sites  of  an  unknown  race,  differing  entirely 
from  the  mound-builders  and  the  present  In- 
dians, while  the  shells  and  other  fossils  found 
with  the  remains  make  it  quite  certain  that  the 
deposit  in  which  the  ancient  sites  were  found 
is  as  old  as  the  Pliocene,  and  perliaps  as  the 

^  Popular  Science  Monthhj,  vol.  xviii.,  p.  34. 


THE    SIXTH   DAY.  241 

Miocene."!  If  this  be  true,  it  shows  that  as 
early  as  the  Pliocene,  and  perhaps  the  Miocene, 
the  human  race  had  wandered  away  from  its 
original  habitat,  half  the  circumference  of  the 
earth ! 

Sir  John  Lubbock  writes  of  bones  found  near 
the  Dardanelles,  engraved  with  figures  of  ani- 
mals. In  the  same  strata  were  found  flint-flakes 
and  several  bones  split  as  if  for  the  extraction 
of  marrow.  These  were  found  in  Miocene 
strata.- 

In  WincheWs  Pre-(fdcwutcs  (p.  422  et  seq.)  are 
collected  various  proofs  of  the  antiquity  of  man. 
With  bones  of  the  Elephas  merhUouaUs — an 
elephant  wliicli,  from  the  frequency  of  its  re- 
mains, is  known  to  have  ranged  from  the  later 
Pliocene  to  the  beginning  of  the  Tertiary — 
were  found  at  St.  Prest,  in  France,  bones  marked 
as  if  by  flint  implements. 

"In  shell-marls  at  Leognan,  near  Bordeaux, 
are  bones  of  an  extinct  manatee  and  of  certain 
chelonians  and  cetaceans,  which  bear  marks 
apparently  made  by  human  implements.  The 
manatee  in  question  is  known  to  be  of  Miocene 
age. 

"  At  Tlienay,  France,  flints  beheved  to  be  the 
work  of  human  hands  were  found  in  lower  Mio- 
cene limestones. 

"A  human  skeleton  was  found  in  volcanic 

1  Popular  Science  Monthly,  vol.  ii.,  p.  638. 

2  Nature,  March,  1873. 


242  GENESIS    AND    ]M0DEIIN    SCIENCE. 

breccia  near  Le  Pny-eii-Velay,  France,  inclosed 
by  the  same  ernptions  which  buried,  in  tlie  same 
neighborhood,  the  remains  of  the  Pliocene  IlIc- 
plias  meridionalis.  The  eminent  anthropologist 
Topinard  {AntliropoJogy^  p.  436)  maintains  the 
Pliocene  age  of  these  remains.  He  also  recog- 
nizes human  shell-heaps  of  late  Miocene  age  at 
Pouance,  and  affirms  that  man's  existence  in  the 
lower  Miocene  epoch  is  '  a  clearly  revealed  sci- 
entific fact.'  Caspari  also  associates  these  human 
remains  with,  the  Miocene  mannnoth  {Urc/e- 
schichte  der  Menschheit,  vol.  i.,  p.  184). 

"  A  human  skull  and  numerous  bones  of  the 
same  skeleton  were  exhumed  from  the  Colle  del 
Yento  in  Liguria.  Tliese  were  reported  by 
Issel  to  be  associated  with  extinct  species  of 
oysters  of  Pliocene  age  {Congres  InternatiojiaJ, 
1867,  pp.  75,  156). 

"  Professor  J.  D.  Whitney,  late  director  of 
the  Geological  Survey  of  California,  says  that 
during  the  Pliocene  and  previous  epochs  the 
surface  of  western  California  had  become  deeply 
eroded  by  the  rivers.  '  Duriug  the  Pliocene, 
California  and  Oregon  became  the  theater  of  the 
most  tremendous  volcanic  activity  that  has 
devastated  the  surface  of  the  globe.  The  valleys 
of  the  rivers  in  the  Sierra  were  filled,  and  much 
of  the  country,  particularly  toward  the  north  of 
California,  was  entirely  buried  in  lava  and  ashes. 
Since  then  the  rivers,  seeking  new  channels, 
have  made  for  themselves  deep  canons,  leaving 


THE    SIXTH   DAY.  243 

their  old  beds  deeply  buried  under  the  lava. 
These  old  buried  river-gravels  are  very  rich  in 
gold,  and  extensive  tunneling  into  the  sides  of 
the  mountains  and  under  the  old  lavas  has 
been  done.  In  one  of  these  old  river-bottoms, 
vnder  the  solid  basalt  of  Tahle  Mountain,  many 
works  of  human  hands  have  been  obtained,  as 
well  as  the  celebrated  human  skull  of  the  Plio- 
cene. .  .  .  Chemical  aualysis  shows  that  it 
is  a  true  fossil,  its  organic  matter  being  almost 
entirely  lost  and  the  phosphate  of  lime  replaced 
by  carbonate  of  liuie.  So  far  as  human  and 
geological  testimony  can  go,  there  is  no  ques- 
tion but  that  the  skull  was  found  under  Table 
Mountain  and  is  of  Pliocene  age.'" 

"  M.  Franyois  Lenormant,  an  eminent  archae- 
ologist and  historian,  freely  recognizes  the  exist- 
ence of  man  even  in  middle  Tertiary  time,  and 
that,  not  an  undeveloped  savage,  but  such  an 
exalted  being  as  Adam  is  pictured  in  the  Bible. 
Subsequent  savagism  was  the  consequence  of 
Adam's  sin,  which  called  down  the  'divine 
curse';  and  'the  appearance  of  cold,  intense 
and  permanent,  which  man  was  scarcely  able  to 
support,  and  which  rendered  a  great  part  of  the 
earth  uninhaljitaljle,'  was  one  '  among  the  chas- 
tisements which  followed  this  fault  of  Adam.' "  ^ 
"The  investigations  in  the  caverns  of  Brix- 
ham  and  Torcpiay  proved  the  existence  of  man 
in  the  early  Quaternary  period.  But  new  evi- 
1  Les  Premieres  Civilisations,  pp.  11, 18,  49,  50,  53,  63. 


244  GENESIS    AND   JIODERX    SCIENCE. 

dences  came  in,  showing  a  yet  greater  antiquity 
of  man.  Animal  remains  were  found  with  hu- 
man remains,  which  showed  not  only  that  man 
existed  in  times  more  remote  than  the  earlier 
investigations  proved,  but  that  some  of  the  early 
periods  of  his  existence  must  have  been  of  im- 
mense length,  embracing  climatic  changes  be- 
tokening different  geological  periods ;  for  with 
the  remains  of  fire  and  human  implements  and 
human  bones  were  found  not  only  bones  of  the 
hairy  mammoth  and  cave-bear,  woolly  rhinoce- 
ros and  reindeer, — which  could  only  have  been 
deposited  there  in  a  time  of  Arctic  cold, — l)ut 
bones  of  the  hy-ena,  hippopotamus,  saber-toothed 
tiger,  and  the  like, which  could  only  have  been 
deposited  when  there  was  in  these  regions  a 
torrid  climate.  The  conjunction  of  these  re- 
mains clearly  showed  that  man  had  lived  in 
England  early  enough  and  long  enough  to  pass 
through  times  when  there  were  great  ghiciers 
stretched  far  down  into  that  country,  and  indeed 
into  the  continent,  and  times  when  England 
had  a  land  connection  with  the  European  con- 
tinent and  the  European  continent  with  Africa, 
allowing  tropical  animals  to  migrate  freely  from 
Africa  to  the  middle  regions  of  England. 

"  The  discoveries  at  Trenton,  New  Jersey, 
and  at  various  places  in  Delaware,  Ohio,  ]\Iinne- 
sota,  and  elsewhere,  along  the  southern  edge  of 
the  diift  of  the  glacial  epochs,  clinched  the  new 
scientific  truth  yet  more  firmly,  and  the  state- 


THE    SIXTH   DAY.  245 

ment  made  by  an  eminent  American  authority 
is  that  '  man  was  on  this  continent  when  the 
cHmate  and  ice  of  Grreenhmd  extended  to  the 
mouth  of  New  York  harbor.' 

"  On  the  Pacific  coast  both  the  actual  remains 
and  works  of  man  found  deep  under  the  lava- 
flows  of  Pliocene  age  show  that  he  existed  in 
the  New  World  at  least  as  early  as  in  the  Old. 

"  Human  bones  had  been  found,  under  these 
circumstances,  as  early  as  1835  at  Canstatt, 
near  Stuttgart,  and  in  1856  in  the  Neanderthal 
near  Diisseldorf ;  but  in  more  recent  searches 
they  Lave  been  discovered  in  a  multitude  of 
places,  especially  in  Germany,  France,  Belgium, 
England,  the  Caucasus,  Africa,  and  North  and 
South  America.  But  comparison  of  these  bones 
showed  that  even  in  that  remote  Quaternary 
period  there  were  great  differences  of  race,  and 
here  again  came  in  an  argument  for  the  yet 
earlier  existence  of  man  on  the  earth ;  for  long 
previous  periods  must  have  been  required  to 
develop  such  racial  differences.  Considerations 
of  this  kind  have  given  a  new  impulse  to  the 
l)elief  that  man's  existence  dates  back  at  least 
into  the  Tertiary  period.  The  evidence  for  this 
(>arlier  origin  of  man  has  been  ably  summed  up 
not  only  by  its  brilliant  advocate,  Mortillet,  Init 
by  a  former  opponent,  one  of  the  most  conserv- 
ative of  modern  anthropologists,  Quatrefages, 
and  the  conclusion  arrived  at  by  both  is  that 
man  did  really  exist   in  the  Tertiary  period. 


24G  GENESIS    AND    MODERN    SCIENCE. 

The  acceptance  of  the  conckision  is  also  seen  in 
the  recent  work  of  that  most  able  investigator, 
Alfred  Russel  Wallace,  who,  cautious  and  con- 
servative as  he  is,  places  the  origin  of  man  not 
only  in  the  Tertiary  period,  but  in  an  earlier 
stage  than  most  have  dared  to  assign,  even  in  the 
Miocene  y  ^ 

A  recent  writer,  in  closing  an  essay  upon  this 
subject,  hints  at  an  earlier  period  still  for  the 
appearance  of  human  life."  "  Where,  then,  must 
we  look  for  primeval  man  ?  Was  the  oldest 
homo  sapiens  Pliocene  or  Miocene  or  yet  more 
ancient  f''"' 

S.  Laing,  in  his  latest  book,  Human  Orifjins^^ 
says:  "Recent  man  has  given  place  to  Quater- 
nary man  ;  post-glacial  to  interglacial  and  pre- 
glacial;  and  now  the  evidence  for  the  existence 
of  man,  or  of  som3  ancestral  form  of  man,  in 
the  Tertiary  period  has  accumulated  to  such  an 
extent  that  there  are  few  competent  anthropolo- 
gists who  any  longer  deny  it."^ 

"  Quatrefages,  in  his  Histoire  des  Baces  IIu- 
7naines,  published  in  1887,  and  containing  tlie 
latest  summary  of  the  evidence  generally  ac- 
cepted by  French  geologists  as  to  Tertiary 
man,   says  that,   omitting  doubtful  cases,   the 

^  Andrew  D.  White,  Fopulai-  Science  Monthhj,  vol. 
xxxvii.,  p.  299. 

-  Popular  Science  Monthly^  vol.  xxxviii.,  p.  514. 

■■  Published  iu  1892. 

^  Unman  Origin.'i,  p.  421. 


THE    SIXTH    DAY.  247 

presence  of  man  has  been  signalized  in  deposits 
undoubtedly  Tertiary  in  five  different  localities ; 
viz.,  in  France,  by  the  Abbe  Bourgeois,  in  the 
lower  Miocene  of  Thenay,  near  Pontlevoy  (Loir- 
et-Cher) ;  by  M.  Rames,  at  Pny  Gournay,  near 
Aurillac  (Cantal),  in  the  upper  Miocene;  in 
Italy,  by  M.  Capellini,  in  the  Pliocene  of  Monte 
Aperto,  near  Sienna,  and  by  M.  Ragazzoni,  in 
the  lower  Pliocene  of  Castelnedolo,  near  Brescia ; 
in  Portugal,  by  M.  Ribiero,  at  Otta,  in  the  val- 
ley of  tlie  Tagus,  in  the  upper  Miocene."  ^ 

There  are  "six  cases  in  the  Old  Woi'ld,  rang- 
ing from  St.  Prest  in  the  upper  Pliocene  to 
Thenay  in  the  lower  Miocene,  in  which  the 
prej)onderance  of  evidence  and  authority  in 
support  of  Tertiary  man  seems  so  decisive  that 
nothing  but  a  preconceived  bias  against  the 
antiquity  of  the  human  race  can  refuse  to  ac- 
cept it."- 

"  Human  origins  must  be  pushed  back  at  least 
as  far  as  the  Miocene  and  probably  into  the 
Eocene  j^eriocL"  ^ 

"  M.  Fraissent  says :  '  From  the  data  now  ob- 
tained, it  is  i:)ermissible  to  believe  that  we  shall 
be  able  to  pursue  the  ancestral  type  of  man  and 
the  anthropoid  apes  still  further,  perhaps  as  far 
as  the  Eocene,  and  even  Jjeyond.^ "  ^ 

"The  caverns  in  wliich  these  human  bones 
have  often  been  found  have,  we  believe,  been 

1  Human  Origins,  p.  354.  -  Hjid.,  p.  356. 

^  Ihid,  p.  420.  4  xii^i^  p  330. 


248  GENESIS    AND   MODERN    SCIENCE. 

always  in  the  Secondary  and  hiver  Cretaceous 
rocks."  1 

If,  as  President  Warren  has  forcibly  argued 
in  his  learned  book,  Paradise  Found,  the  human 
race  originated  in  the  north  polar  regions,  ^Ye 
may  look  to  that  portion  of  the  earth  for  yet 
more  ancient  relics  of  man. 

"  Was  the  Miocene  period,  on  the  whole,  a 
better  age  of  the  world  than  that  in  which  we 
live  ?  In  some  respects  it  was.  Obviously  there 
was  in  the  northern  hemisphere  a  vast  surface 
of  land  under  a  mild  and  equable  climate,  and 
clothed  with  a  rich  and  varied  vegetation.  Had 
we  lived  in  the  Miocene  we  might  have  sat  un- 
der our  vine  and  fig-tree  equally  in  Grreenland 
and  Spitzbergen  and  in  those  more  southern 
climes  to  winch  this  privilege  is  now  restricted. 
We  might  have  enjoyed  a  great  variety  of  rich 
and  nutritive  fruits,  and,  if  sufficiently  muscular 
and  able  to  cope  with  the  gigantic  animals  of 
the  period,  we  might  have  engaged  in  either  the 
life  of  the  hunter  or  that  of  the  agriculturist 
under  advantages  which  we  do  not  now  possess. 
On  the  whole  the  Miocene  presents  to  us  in 
these  respects  the  perfection  of  the  Neozoic 
time,  and  that  in  its  culmination,  in  so  far  as 
the  nobler  foi'ms  of  brute  animals  and  of  i)lants 
are  concerned.  Had  men  existed  in  those  days, 
however,  they  should  have  been,  in  order  to  suit 

1  Popular  Science  Monthli/,  vol.  xlviii.  (189G),  p.  22. 


THE   SIXTH   DAY.  249 

the  conditions  snrrounding  them,  a  race  of 
giants."  ^ 

And  so  they  were,  for  Moses  wrote  concern- 
ing those  early  races  of  men,  "  There  were  giants 
in  the  earth  in  tliose  days"  (Gen.  vi.  4). 

We  have  no  means  of  ]DOsitive  knowledge  to 
determine  at  what  chronological  date  in  the 
history  of  the  earth  mankind  originated.  This 
problem  has  ever  baffled  the  curiosity  of  the 
antiquary.  Chevalier  Bnnsen,  in  his  elaborate 
work  on  ancient  Egypt,  claims  that  monument- 
al evidence  shows  that  Menes  reigned  in  Egypt 
as  early  as  3640  B.C.  But  Egyptian  chronology 
is  confessedly'"  bewildering,  and  so  uncertain  is 
it  that  there  are  two  great  classes  among  stu- 
dents of  Egyptian  antiquities,  the  one  contend- 
ing for  a  long  chronology  and  the  other  for  a 
short  chronology.  From  this  source,  therefore, 
we  have  not  as  yet  been  able  to  derive  reliable 
information. 

Tradition  has  declared  that  Noah  settled  in 
China  after  the  Flood.  Chinese  history  begins 
with  a  mass  of  fables  of  no  historical  value. 
"  The  historical  period  may  be  said  to  commence 
with  the  Hia  period  or  dynasty,  begun  by  Yu 
the  Great  about  the  year  2200  B.C.,  although  a 
great  infusion  of  the  fabulous  still  continues."  - 

With  reference  to  Babylonian  chronology  we 

1  The  Story  of  the  Earth  and  Man,  Dawson,  p.  264, 

2  Chanihers^s  Encyclopedia,  article  '*  Chinese  Empu-e." 


250  GENESIS   AND   MODEllN    SCIENCE. 

are  informed :  "  No  legends  have  yet  been  found 
among  the  cuneiform  inscriptions  l>y  which  we 
may  ascertain  tlie  date  of  the  commencement 
of  the  earlier  Chaldean  empire,  which  preceded 
the  Assyrian,  but  proljably  the  traditional  date 
2234  B.C.  is  historic." ' 

The  close  agreement  of  these  dates  in  Chinese 
and  Chaldean  chronology  with  the  date  given 
for  the  dispersion  of  mankind  from  Babel,  22-1:7 
B.c.,2  is  very  significant. 

"  As  to  post-diluvian  man.  Canon  Rawlinson 
has  pointed  out  {Leisure  Hour,  187())  the  re- 
markal^le  convergence  of  all  historic  dates 
toward  a  time  between  2000  and  3000  B.C."  On 
review  of  the  facts  we  must  conclude  that  there 
is  no  trace  whatever  in  history  of  a  race  of  men 
before  Adam,  and  certainly  the  association  of 
human  fossils  with  those  of  extinct  species  of 

^  Cliamhers's  Encijdopedia^  article  ''  Babylon." 
2  This  date  is  fixed  according  to  Archhishop  Usher's 
chronology  of  the  Bible,  which  is  almost  exclusively 
used  by  Bible  students.  There  are,  however,  other 
systems  of  chronology,  which  differ  from  it  somewhat. 
"  While  the  Hebrew  text  reckons  4,000  years  from  the 
Creation  to  the  birth  of  Christ,  and  to  the  Flood  1,056 
years,  the  Samaritan  makes  the  former  mueli  longer, 
though  it  counts  from  the  Creation  to  the  Flood  oidy 
1,307  years.  The  Septuagint  Version  differs  from 
both.  It  removes  the  Creation  of  the  world  to  0,000 
years  before  Christ,  and  2,250  years  before  the  Flood. 
These  differences  have  never  been  reconciled." 


THE   SIXTH    DAY.  231 

animals,  as  already  described,  does  not,  by  the 
present  theory,  contradict  the  statement  of  the 
Bible  that  Adam  was  the  first  man. 

Moses'  record  is  also  confirmed  by  the  modern 
science  of  ethnology,  or  anthropology,  as  it  may 
more  properly  be  called.  The  Bible  history  of 
man  reveals  that  he  is  a  separate  creation  of 
God,  and  not  a  development  from  a  prior  and 
lower  creation,  and  that  the  human  race  sprang 
from  a  single  pair.  "  The  human  race  in  every 
country  and  age  have  been  the  offspring  of  the 
first  pair.  Amid  all  the  varieties  found  among 
men,  some  black,  as  negroes,  others  copper-col- 
ored, as  well  as  white,  the  researches  of  modern 
science  lead  to  a  conclusion,  fully  accordant 
with  the  sacred  history,  that  they  are  all  of  one 
species  and  of  one  family  (Acts  xvii.  2G)."  ^  Pro- 
fessor DaAvson  observes  that  the  sacred  record 
"  does  not  say, '  Let  the  earth  bring  forth '  man, 
but.  Let  ?/6'  form  or  fashion  man.  This  marks 
the  relative  importance  of  the  human  species 
and  the  heavenly  origin  of  its  nobler,  immate- 
rial part.  Man  is  also  said  to  have  been 
'created,'  implying  that  in  his  constitution 
there  was  something  new  and  not  included  in 
previous  parts  of  the  work,  even  in  its  material."  2 
There  was  not  a  gradual  growth  of  some  infe- 
rior genus  or  species  into  manhood,  but  man  ap- 
peared at  once,  complete ;  and  from  one  pair  of 
human  beings  ("male  and  female  created  he 
^  Jamiesou,        -  Dawsou,  Orif/in  of  the  World. 


252  GENESIS   AND    MODERN    SCIENCE. 

them")  has  proceeded  all  the  human  race. 
Adam  was  the  common  progenitor,  and  since 
the  universal  Deluge  destroyed  all  the  inhabi- 
tants of  the  earth,  save  those  who  were  shel- 
tered in  the  ark,  all  the  present  human  family 
descended  from  the  three  sons  of  Noah, — 81iein, 
Ham,  and  Japheth.  The  best  authorities  in  eth- 
nology have  concurred  in  this  conclusion,  and 
have  declared  that  mankind  have  sprung  from 
one  stock  and  have  constituted  but  one  species. 
Cuvier  has  classified  man  into  three  subdivi- 
sions. Dr.  Pritehard,  in  his  well-known  Natural 
Histonj  of  Man ^  commences  with  a  description 
of  the  three  divisions  of  the  human  race,  and 
Dr.  Latham,  one  of  the  chief  exponents  of  the 
science  of  ethnology  in  England,  makes  the 
threefold  division.  So  also  does  Jacquinot. 
Pritehard  and  Latham  argue  not  only  from 
physiological  premises,  but  also  from  the  scien- 
tific basis  of  comparative  philology.^  If  the 
Bible  be  not  of  divine  authorship,  it  is  simply 
incredible  that  Moses,  without  so  much  as  a 
single  error,  should  have  correctly  stated  and 
anticipated  hy  thirty-three  hundred  years  the 

1  It  is  proper,  however,  to  remind  the  reader  that 
ethnologists  are  divided  into  two  classes,  the  nionoge- 
nists,  who  claim  the  origin  of  mankind  fi-om  one 
stock,  and  the  polygenists,  who  contend  for  the  diver- 
sity of  the  origin  of  man.  The  American  school  of 
polygenists  was  founded  by  Dr.  Morton,  of  Pliihulel- 
phia,  and  includes  such  a  philosopher  as  Agassiz. 


THE    SIXTH   DAY.  253 

patient  research  and  study  of  modern  scholars 
in  pliysiology  and  philology,  as  well  as  in  geol- 
ogy and  paleontology,  sciences  wholly  unknown 
in  his  day. 

It  ai)pears  reasonable  from  the  narrative  in 
Genesis  to  l^elieve  that  the  animals  created  on 
"  the  sixth  day  "  were  in  one  locality  or  neighbor- 
hood, and  in  the  course  of  time  were  dispersed. 
In  an  earlier  chapter  the  migration  of  plants 
from  the  north  to  the  south,  and  the  "  current  of 
vegetation  from  Scandina\da  to  Tasmania"  have 
been  considered.  In  like  manner  the  migra- 
tions of  animals  have  been  from  north  to  south. 
Passing  around  the  earth  on  any  isothermal  line, 
at  the  equator,  or  in  any  latitude  south  of  it,  or 
in  any  latitude  north  of  it  until  we  come  to  the 
Arctic  zone,  we  find,  as  we  pass  from  land  to 
land,  that  the  animals  are  specifically  unlike,  but 
in  the  Arctic  zone  we  everywhere  meet  with  the 
same  species.  If,  however,  we  pass  around  the 
earth  on  the  circles  of  longitude  we  find  a1jun- 
dant  fossil  evidence  that  the  prehistoric  move- 
ments of  the  animal  world  were  fi'om  north  to 
south  and  never  from  south  to  north.^  Profes- 
sor Orton  saj's  {Comparative  Zoolor/f/,  -p.  08^): 
"  Only  around  the  shores  of  the  Arctic  sea  are 
the  same  animals  and  plants  found  through 
every  meridian,  and  in  passing  southward  along 
the  three  princii^al  lines  of  land,  specific  identi- 
ties give  way  to  mere  identity  of  genera;  these 
^  Paradise  Found,  p.  93. 


25-4  GENESIS    AND   MODEEN    SCIENCE. 

are  replaced  by  family  resemblances,  and  at  last 
even  the  families  become  in  a  measure  distinct, 
not  only  on  the  great  continents,  but  also  on  the 
islands,  till  every  little  rock  in  the  ocean  has  its 
peculi  ar  inhaljitants." 

Professor  Packard  says:  "It  should  also  be 
observed  that  in  the  beginning  of  things  the  con- 
tinents were  bnilt  up  from  north  to  south — such 
has  been,  at  least,  the  history  of  the  North  and 
South  American  and  the  Europeo-Asiatic  and 
the  African  continents ;  and  thus  it  would  ap- 
pear that  north  of  the  equator,  at  least,  animals 
slowly  migrated  southward,  keei^ing  pace,  as  it 
were,  with  the  growth  and  southward  extension 
of  the  grand  land-masses  which  appeared  above 
the  sea  in  Paleozoic  ages.  Hence,  scanty  as  are 
the  Arctic  and  temperate  regions  of  the  earth  at 
the  present  time,  in  former  ages  these  regions 
were  as  prolific  in  life  as  the  tropics  now  are ;  the 
latter  regions,  now  so  vast,  having  through  all 
the  Tertiary  and  Quaternary  ages  been  undis- 
turbed by  great  geological  revolutions,  and 
meanwhile  been  colonized  by  emigrants  driven 
down  by  the  incoming  cold  of  the  glacial 
period."  ^ 

The  surface  features  of  the  globe  are  pecul- 
iarly favorable  to  the  southward  migration  of 
plants  and  animals.  The  earth  is  corrugated 
from  pole  to  pole  by  alternate  continents  and 
deep-sea  channels.     From  the  Arctic  zone  al- 

^  Zoolnyi/,  }).  i\(jO. 


THE    SIXTH   DAY.  255 

most  to  the  Antarctic  the  continents  stretch 
with  unbroken  land  connections.  The  great  air- 
and  ocean-currents  are  north  or  south  in  their 
courses.  All  the  mountain-ranges  of  the  New 
World  and  many  of  those  of  the  Old  World  are 
north  and  south  in  their  direction.  Nearly  all 
the  rivers  of  the  northern  hemisphere  flow  to 
the  north  or  south.  All  these  corrugations, 
channels,  and  currents  are  favorable  to  a  south- 
ern migration  of  plant  and  animal  life,  while 
they  present  barriers  to  an  east  or  west  migra- 
tion.^ 

1  Paradise  Found,  p.  106,  quoting  G.  Hilton  Scrib- 
uer,  Where  did  Life  Begin  f  pp.  26,  29. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

THE    DELUGE. 

The  exegesis  of  the  history  of  "  the  sixth  day," 
with  which  the  first  chapter  of  Genesis  closes, 
is  now  completed.  The  discussion  might  proj)- 
erly  end  at  this  point.  But  there  still  remains  a 
chapter  in  the  "  great  stone  book  of  nature,"  the 
history  of  the  Tertiary  (or  Cenozoic)  age ;  and 
as  there  are  strange  and  startling  coincidences 
found  in  Genesis  and  geology  with  reference  to 
this  period,  still  further  vindicating  the  verac- 
ity of  the  revealed  record,  and  as  without  some 
mention  of  these  matters  my  purpose  would  not 
be  fulfilled,  I  will  continue  in  this  place  the  dis- 
cussion concerning  them. 

In  reviewing  the  events  of  "the  fourth  day,"  it 
has  been  said  tliat  the  axis  of  the  earth's  I'olation 
l^robably  did  not  then  rise  to  its  pi-osent  inclina- 
tion to  the  ecliptic,  but  to  an  intermediate  angle, 
say  of  45°.  We  have  already  noticed  the  evi- 
dence, stated  l)y  Dana,  that  "  the  transition  from 
Paleozoic  to  Mesozoic  time  was  strongly  marked 

256 


THE   DELUGE.  257 

in  geological  history,  mieqnaled,  in  fact,  by  any 
of  earlier  date,  after  the  Azoic  revolution,  in 
which  the  Laurentian  rocks  were  folded  and 
crystallized,  and  by  any  in  later  ages,  wHli  the 
single  exeeption  of  that  from  Mesozoic  to  Ceiiozoic 
timey  We  will  consider  more  at  length  these 
later  changes  and  their  cause.  Dana  says :  "  The 
close  of  the  Mesozoic  era  (or  that  of  the  Creta- 
ceous period)  was  a  time  of  disturbance,  un- 
equaled  since  the  close  of  the  Paleozoic.  Its 
effects  are  apparent  in  the  destruction  of  life.^ 
.  .  .  Moreover  this  era  of  disturbance  was  con- 
tinued through  the  Tertiary  period,  during 
which  the  Pyrenees,  Alps,  Apennines,  Hima- 
layas, and  other  mountains  reached  nearly  to 
their  present  altitude  above  the  level  of  the 
ocean,  and  the  continents  attained  in  general 
their  full  extent.^  .  .  .  The  complete  extermi- 
nation of  species  at  the  close  of  the  Cretaceous 
period  has  not  been  fully  explained.  It  was 
probably  connected  with  the  great  changes  of 
level  which  took  place  at  this  time,  as  has  been 
shown,  over  the  entire  eastern  and  western  conti- 
nents? ...  In  North  America  there  are  no 
Tertiary  beds  known  north  of  southern  New 
England,  and  none  in  the  Arctic,  indicating  ap- 
parently that  the  whole  area  was  above  the  sea 
then  as  now.  .  .  .  It  is  therefore  most  probable 
that  the  destruction  of  life  was  due  (1)  to  the 

1  Manual  of  Geology,  p.  502. 

2  Ihkl.,  p.  503.  3  ii^ifi^  p  504. 


258  GENESIS    AND    MODERN    SCIENCE. 

more  or  less  emergence  of  the  continents  and 
accompanying  elevation  of  mountain-ranges; 
and  (2)  to  a  change  in  the  climate  and  oceanic 
temperature,  both  the  air  and  oceans  being 
rendered  colder  than  in  the  Mesozoic  era."  ^ 

As  to  climate  he  says :  "In  the  Tertiary,  Eu- 
rope passed  through  a  series  of  changes  in  its 
climate  from  tropical  to  temperate.  .  .  .  The 
Miocene  flora  of  the  vicinity  of  Vienna,  Yon 
Ettiijghauser  pronounces  to  be  subtropical.  The 
temperature  of  North  America  was  not  cooler 
than  that  of  Europe.""  By  examining  the  figure 
opposite  page  175,  in  which  the  axis  of  the  earth 
is  shown  at  an  inclination  of  45°,  we  see  that 
Vienna  would  be  in  the  tropical  zone.  The  fos- 
sils of  the  hippopotamus  in  England  would  in- 
dicate a  tropical  climate,  as  would  also  the  teeth 
and  bones  of  crocodiles  found  there.  In  the 
vicinity  of  London,  in  the  clay-beds,  are  depos- 
ited fossil  remains  of  the  fruits  and  seeds  of 
palms  and  other  tropical  plants. 

Let  us  now  inquire  what  was  the  climate  of 
the  Arctic  regions  in  the  Mesozoic.  By  examin- 
ing the  figure  just  referred  to,  we  see  that,  under 
the  conditions  there  shown,  it  would  not  be 
frigid,  but  temperate.  Turning  again  to  Dana, 
w^e  read:  "There  is  no  reason  to  believe  that 
there  was  any  Alpine  or  subf rigid  vegetation 
at  Melville  Island,  or  that  the  plants  differed 
essentially  from  those  of  Pennsylvania.  This 
1  Minutal  of  Geolofjif,  p.  504.        2  jj/^/.^  p.  534. 


THE  DELUGE.  259 

warm  climate  of  the  poles  was  hardly  less  strik- 
ing in  the  middle  Mesozoic,  for  while  reptiles 
are  esj^ecially  characteristic  of  the  tropics,  there 
were  ichthyosaurs  and  telosaurs  in  the  Arctic. 
Sir  Edward  Belcher  found  an  ichthyosaur  on 
Exmouth  Island,  in  latitude  77°  16'  north  and 
longtitude  96°  west,  570  feet  above  the  present 
sea-level;  and  Captain  Sherard  Osborn  found 
two  bones  of  a  species  allied  to  the  telosaur  on 
Bathurst  Island,  in  latitude  76°  22'  north  and 
longitude  101:°  west."  Another  writer  says,  "  In 
tlie  Miocene  period  luxuriant  vegetation  cov- 
ered the  shores  of  the  Arctic  Ocean,  and  the  cli- 
mate was  like  that  of  Virginia." 

What  is  the  climate  of  those  regions  now? 
"Ilumljoldt  remarks  that  near  the  mouths  of 
the  Lena  a  considerable  thickness  of  frozen  soil 
may  be  found  at  all  seasons,  at  a  depth  of  a  few 
feet ;  so  that  if  a  carcass  be  once  embedded  in 
the  mud  and  ice  of  such  a  region  and  in  such  a 
climate,  its  putrefaction  may  be  arrested  for  in- 
definite ages."  Hence  the  remarkable  preser- 
vation of  the  flesh  of  those  Siberian  animals 
already  mentioned.  "According  to  Professor 
^"an  Baer,  of  St.  Petersburg,  the  ground  is  now 
frozen  permanently  to  the  depth  of  400  feet  at 
the  town  of  Yakutsk,  on  the  west  bank  of  the 
Lena,  in  latitude  62°  north,  600  miles  distant 
from  the  polar  sea.  Mr.  Middendorf,  an  eminent 
Russian  naturalist,  says  that  in  1843  he  bored 
in  Siberia  to  the  depth  of  70  feet,  and  after  pass- 


260  GENESIS   AND   MODEKN   SCIENCE. 

ing  through  much  frozen  mud  mixed  with  ice, 
he  came  down  upon  a  solid  mass  of  pure  trans- 
parent ice,  the  thickness  of  which  he  did  not 
ascertain."  ^ 

The  luxuriant  vegetation  of  the  Arctic  lands 
in  the  Miocene  period  shows  that  while  the 
Paleozoic  temperature  was  reduced  at  the  open- 
ing of  the  Mesozoic  era,  the  climate  still  contin- 
ued temperate.  The  shaggy  fur  coat  upon  the 
Siberian  mammoth,  already  alluded  to,  would 
tend  to  show  that  while  the  temperature  was 
lowered,  it  was  not  sufficient  to  destroy  or  drive 
away  this  species  of  animal,  but  that  nature 
provided  an  additional  protection  by  the  length- 
ening and  thickening  of  the  hair. 

"  The  old  Russians  living  in  Siberia  were  of 
opinion  that  the  mammoth  was  an  animal  of  the 
same  kind  as  the  elephant,  and  that  before  the 
Flood,  Siberia  had  been  warmer  than  now,  and 
elephants  had  then  lived  in  numbers  there ;  that 
they  had  been  droAvned  in  the  Flood,  and  after- 
ward, when  the  climate  became  colder,  had  frozen 
in  the  river  mud."- 

Now,  having  learned  the  facts  and  the  charac- 
ter of  the  change,  how  can  we  account  for  it  I 
Easily,  and  in  the  same  manner  as  before:  by 
the  simple  operation  of  the  law  of  gravitation. 
The  northern  side  of  the  earth  was  now  more 

1  Lj-ell,  Principles  of  Geology,  p.  84. 

2  Paradise  Found,  p.  299,  quoting  Nordeiiskjold, 
Voyage  of  the  Vega,  p.  305. 


POSITION    OF   THE    EARTH    IN    THE    CENOZOIC    AGE. 


THE   DELUGE.  261 

evenly  balanced  by  the  southern  side,  and  the 
axis  of  rotation  rose  to  a  higher  angle,  no  longer 
inclined  to  the  ecliptic  at  45°  (or  thereabouts), 
but  at  (^6^'^,  its  present  inclination — that  is,  a 
deflection  of  23^°  from  the  perpendicular.  This 
change,  instead  of  giving  one  wide  tropical  zone 
and  two  narrow  temperate  zones,  as  before,  gave 
one  tropical  zone,  two  temi:)erate  and  two  frigid 
zones.  As  the  animals  then  inhabiting  the  north 
polar  regions  could  not  endure  the  increase  of 
cold,  they  perished. 

But  why  did  the  axis  of  the  earth's  rotation 
rise  again  ?  For  a  reason  like  that  before  stated : 
the  increase  of  the  leverage  of  the  southern 
hemisjihere.  Bj"  this  is  not  meant  an  increase 
in  the  mass  of  the  earth,  but  a  new  distribution 
of  the  mass,  effecting  a  change  of  the  center  of 
gravity  and  causing  the  southern  side  of  the 
earth  more  nearly  to  counterbalance  the  north- 
ern side.  This  was  done  by  the  emergence  of 
lands  in  the  southern  ocean  and  by  the  uplifting 
of  the  bed  of  the  South  Pacific  Ocean. 

But  is  there  any  evidence  of  such  changes  at 
that  period  ?  Yes ;  abundant  evidence,  in  Aus- 
tralia and  South  America.  A  standard  writer 
saj's  of  Australia :  "  The  geology  of  tliis  vast 
region  has  not  been  fully  explored,  but  is  sup- 
posed to  be  remarkably  simple.  It  consists  of 
a  great,  central  Tertiary  formation,  surrounded 
on  all  sides  by  plutonic  and  metamorj^liic  rocks." 
*'  xVn  immense,  roughly  quadrangular  and  com- 


262  GENESIS   AND   MODERN   SCIENCE. 

paratively  flat  district  in  central  Australia,  ex- 
tending from  the  southern  shores  in  latitude  33° 
south,  where  it  forms  a  coast-line  of  somewhat 
bold  cliffs,  to  18°  south  latitude,  and  having  for 
its  eastern  and  western  limits  124°  and  138°  east 
longitude,  is  composed  of  Tertiary  rocks."  ^  "  The 
Tertiary  formation  occupies  a  large  amount  of 
the  surface  of  South  America.  From  Patagonia 
to  Venezuela  it  can  be  traced  occupying  the 
space  intervening  between  the  Andes  and  the 
Azoic  rocks  of  Brazil  and  Guiana.  The  older 
Silurian  and  Carboniferous  deposits  are  not 
found  in  the  position  they  occupy  in  the  north- 
ern continent;  the  gneiss,  etc.,  dip  diyecthj  under 
the  Tertlaries.'''''^  Charles  Darwin,  who  \dsited 
Patagonia  and  Tierra  del  Fuego  in  1831-36,  in 
H.  M.  S.  Beaejle,  has  written  v'  "  The  geology  of 
Patagonia  is  interesting.  Different  from  Eu- 
rope, where  the  Tertiary  formations  appear  to 
have  accumulated  in  bays,  here  along  hundreds 
of  miles  of  coast  we  have  one  great  dej^osit,  in- 
chiding  many  Tertiary  shells,  all  ai»|)ar(nitly  ex- 
tinct. .  .  .  Everything  in  this  sonthcrn  conti- 
nent has  been  effected  on  a  gi-and  scale.  The 
land  from  the  Rio  Plata  to  Tieri-a  del  Fuego,  a 
distance  of  1,200  miles,  has  been  raised  in  mass 
(and  in  Patagonia  to  a  height  of  between  300 
and  400  feet)  within  the  period  of  the  now  exist- 

1  (linmhet's's  Enrj/clopcdia,  article  "Australia." 
-  Infeniaf tonal  Cijrlojx'dia,  article  "  America." 
3  NaturalisVs  Voyage  Hound  the  World,  p.  170. 


THE   DELUGE.  263 

ing  sea-shells.  ...  I  may  add  tliat  witliiii  the 
period  when  icebergs  transported  bowlders  over 
the  upper  plain  of  Santa  Cruz,  the  elevation  has 
been  at  least  1,500  feet.  Nor  has  Patagonia 
been  affected  only  by  upward  movements ;  the 
extinct  Tertiary  shells  from  Port  St.  Julian  and 
Santa  Cruz  cannot  have  lived,  according  to  Pro- 
fessor E.  Forbes,  in  a  greater  depth  of  water 
than  from  40  to  250  feet ;  but  they  are  now  cov- 
ered with  sea-deposited  strata  from  800  to  1,000 
feet  in  thickness ;  hence  the  bed  of  the  sea,  on 
which  these  shells  once  lived,  must  have  sunk 
downward  several  hundred  feet  to  allow  of  the 
accumulation  of  the  superincumbent  strata. 
"What  a  history  of  geological  changes  does  the 
simply  constructed  coast  of  Patagonia  reveal !  " 

Dana  says  that  the  "  Tertiary  movements 
along  the  Andes  affected  half — at  least — of 
South  America,"^  and  again,  "In  South  America 
the  region  of  the  Andes  through  the  length  of 
the  continent  underwent  at  the  same  time 
[Tertiary]  an  elevation  of  many  thousands  of 
feet."  2 

Accompanying  this  emergence  of  the  large 
portions  of  Australia  and  South  America  was 
doubtless  the  emergence  also  of  some  or  all  of 
the  Australian  chain  of  islands,  and  perhaps  of 
the  Antarctic  lands,  thus  overcoming  still  fur- 
ther the  superior  gravity  of  the  northern  hemi- 

1  Manual  of  GeoJogi/,  Dana  (fourth  edition),  p.  365. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  935. 


264  GENESIS    AND    MODEEN    SCIENCE. 

sphere  and  Iningiiig  the  axis  of  the  earth  more 
nearly  toward  the  perpendicular  direction. 

It  was  in  this  manner,  probably,  by  the  action 
of  gTavitation,  that  the  Arctic  region,  once  the 
torrid  zone,  now  became  the  frigid  zone,  and 
from  this  new  region,  now  of  perpetual  ice  and 
snow,  descended  those  glaciers  or  masses  of  ice 
wdiicli  have  left  their  debiis,  and  marked  with 
their  groovings  and  scratchings  the  north  tem- 
perate zone  around  the  earth.  In  Europe  this 
drift  is  confined  to  that  portion  lying  north  of 
the  parallel  of  50°  north.  In  North  America 
the  glacial  drift  covered  Canada  and  New  Eng- 
land, including  Long  Island,  and  extended 
across  the  country,  beyond  the  Mississippi,  hav- 
ing its  southern  limit  near  the  parallel  of  39°,  in 
southern  Pennsylvania,  Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois, 
and  Iowa. 

The  period  of  the  glacial  drift  in  the  southern 
hemisphere  was  probaljly  not  contemporaneous 
with  that  of  the  northern,  but,  as  already  indi- 
cated, was  rather  at  the  beginning  of  the  Meso- 
zoic  epoch.  The  glacial  drift  in  South  America 
is  met  with  from  Tierra  del  Fuego  as  far  tow^ard 
the  equator  as  the  parallel  of  41°  south,  and,  as 
stated  in  a  former  chapter,  it  appears  in  the 
Amazon  Valley  the  whole  width  of  Brazil  and 
into  Peru. 

With  reference  to  the  complete  extinction  of 
species  which,  Dana  says,  occurred  over  the  en- 
tire eastern  and  western  continents  at  the  close 


THE   DELUGE.  265 

of  the  Mesozoic  eiDOch,^  Darwin  writes  as  fol- 
lows— making  queries  which  he  is  far  from  an- 
swering satisfactorily:  "The  greater  number, 
if  not  all,  of  these  extinct  quadrupeds  lived  at  a 
late  period,  and  were  the  contemj^oraries  of  most 
of  the  existing  sea-shells.  Since  they  lived  no 
verj'  great  change  in  the  form  of  the  land  can 
have  taken  place.  What,  then, has  exterminated 
so  many  species  and  whole  genera  ?  The  mind 
is  at  first  irresistibly  hurried  into  the  belief  of 
some  great  catastroi^he ;  but  thus  to  destroy 
animals,  both  large  and  small,  in  southern  Pat- 
agonia, in  Brazil,  on  the  Cordillera  of  Peru,  in 
North  America,  up  to  Behring  Strait,  we  must 
shake  the  entire  frame-work  of  the  globe.  It 
appears  from  the  character  of  the  fossils  in  Eu- 
rope, Asia,  Australia,  and  in  North  and  South 
America,  that  those  conditions  which  favor  the 
life  of  the  larger  quadrupeds  were  lately  co- 
extensive with  the  world.  What  those  condi- 
tions were  no  one  has  yet  even  conjectured.  It 
could  hardly  have  been  a  change  of  tempera- 
ture, which  at  about  the  same  time  destroj^ed 
the  inhabitants  of  the  tropical,  temperate,  and 
Arctic  latitudes  on  botli  sidos  of  the  globe.  In 
North  America  we  positively  know,  from  Mr. 
Lyell,  that  the  large  quadrupeds  lived  subse- 
([uently  to  that  j)eriod,  wlien  bowlders  were 
brought  into  latitudes  at  which  icebergs  now 
never  arrive ;  from  conclusive  but  indirect  rea- 
^  MaiUKtl  of  Grologij,  p.  50-1. 


266  GENESIS   AND   MODERN   SCIENCE. 

sons  we  may  feel  sure  that  in  the  southern 
hemisphere  the  Macrauchenia,  also,  lived  long 
subsequently  to  the  ice-transporting  bowlder 
period.  Did  man,  after  his  first  inroad  into 
South  America,  destroy,  as  has  been  suggested, 
the  un wieldly  Megatherium  and  other  Edentata  f 
We  must  at  least  look  to  some  other  cause  for 
the  destruction  of  the  little  tucu-tucu  at  Bahia 
Blanca,  and  of  the  many  fossil  mice  and  other 
small  quadrupeds  in  Brazil.  No  one  will  imag- 
ine that  a  drought,  even  far  severer  than  those 
which  cause  such  losses  in  the  provinces  of  La 
Plata,  could  destroy  every  individual  of  every 
species  from  southern  Patagonia  to  Behriug 
Strait:'  1 

If  man  were  living  upon  the  earth  as  early  as 
the  Triassic  period,  it  is  a  pertinent  question  to 
ask,  "  How  did  he  escape  the  complete  extermi- 
nation of  life  upon  the  earth  at  the  close  of  the 
Cretaceous  period!"  My  answer  is  a  startling 
one,  altiiough  it  is  not  necessarily  a  part  of 
my  previous  theory.  But  it  is  not  any  more 
difficult,  under  any  circumstances  of  my  hy- 
pothesis, to  answer  the  question  of  the  re-ap- 
pearance of  animal  life  than  for  geologists  in 
general.  Indeed,  it  would  require,  according  to 
the  prevalent  theories,  an  entirely  new  creation 
of  animals  throughout,  to  repeople  the  earth  in 
the  Tertiary  j^eriod.  It  is  a  significant  fact  that 
this  is  the  last  geological  record  of  the  universal 
'  NaturalisVsVoyage  Round  the  }\''orld,  p.  173. 


THE  DELUGE.  267 

extinction  of  life  upon  the  earth.  As  my  an- 
swer to  the  question  just  propounded  does  not 
call  for  any  new  creation,  it  seems  the  simplest, 
and,  therefore,  the  most  probable  theory  which 
can  be  offered. 

If  such  an  extinction  of  life  upon  the  earth 
occurred  in  historic  times,  the  record  of  so 
wonderful  and  awful  an  event  would  certainly 
have  been  preserved,  if  an  historian  of  it  could 
have  survived. 

It  seems  probable  that  the  cause  of  this  com- 
plete extermination  of  life  over  all  the  world  was 
the  Noachian  Deluge,  and  that  the  earth  was  re- 
populated  by  those  animals  and  human  beings 
saved  with  Noah  in  the  ark. 

The  Scriptures  narrate,  with  much  detail, 
when  and  how  the  Flood  occurred,  and  the  con- 
tinuance of  the  waters  upon  the  earth.  In 
Genesis  vii.  10  to  viii.  14  we  read  as  follows: 
"And  it  camie  to  pass  after  seven  days,  that  the 
waters  of  the  flood  were  upon  the  earth.  In  the 
six  hundredth  year  of  Noah's  life,  in  the  sec- 
ond month,  the  seventeenth  day  of  the  month, 
the  same  day  icere  all  the  fountains  of  the  great 
deep  broken  uj),^  and  the  windows  of  heaven 
were  opened.  And  the  rain  was  upon  the  earth 
forty  days  and  forty  nights.  .  .  .  And  the  flood 
was  forty  days  upon  the  earth ;  and  the  waters 
increased,  and  bare  up  the  ark,  and  it  was  lifted 
up  above  the  earth.  And  the  w^aters  prevailed, 
^  Cleft  ihrow'^h—haf/a. 


1268  GENE8IS    AND   MODEllN    SCIENCE. 

and  were  increased  greatly  upon  the  eartli ;  and 
the  ark  went  upon  the  face  of  the  waters.  And 
the  waters  prevailed  exceedingly  upon  the 
earth ;  and  all  the  higii  hills,  that  were  under 
the  whole  heaven,  were  covered.  Fifteen  cubits 
upward  did  the  waters  prevail ;  and  the  mount- 
ains were  covered.  And  all  flesh  died  that  moved 
vpon  the  earth,  both  of  fowl,  and  of  eattle,  and  of 
beast,  and  of  ever)/  creepuig  thing  that  ereepeth 
upon  the  earth,  and  evert/  ma)i :  all  in  whose 
nostrils  was  the  breath  of  life,  of  all  that  was 
in  the  dry  land,  died.  And  every  living  sub- 
stance was  destroyed  v,diich  was  upon  tlie  face 
of  the  ground,  both  man,  and  cattle,  and  the 
creeping  things,  and  the  fowl  of  the  heaven ; 
and  they  were  destroyed  from  the  earth :  and 
Noah  only  remained  alive,  and  they  tliat  were 
with  him  in  the  ark.  And  the  waters  prevailed 
upon  the  earth  a  hundred  and  fifty  days.  .  .  . 
And  God  made  a  wind  to  pass  over  the  earth, 
and  tlie  waters  asswaged.  The  fountains  also 
of  the  deep  and  the  windows  of  heaven  were 
stopped,  and  the  rain  from  heaven  was  re- 
strained. And  the  iraters  returned'^  from  off  tlie 
carfJi  eontinnalli/:  and  after  the  end  of  the  Imn- 
d  red  and  fifty  days  the  waters  were  abated.  And 
the  ark  rested  in  the  seventh  month,  on  th(^ 
seventeenth  day  of  tlie  month,  ui)oi)  the  mount- 
ains of  Ararat.  And  tlir  waters  decreased  con- 
tinually until  the  tenth  month:  in  the  tenth 
^  Tunieil  ]nwk-.sJi,d}. 


THE   DELUGE.  269 

nioiitli,  ou  the  first  day  of  the  mouth,  were  the 
tops  of  the  mountains  seen.  .  .  .  And  it  came 
to  pass  iu  the  six  hundredth  and  first  year,  in 
the  first  month,  the  first  day  of  the  month,  the 
waters  were  dried  up  from  off  the  earth :  and 
Xoah  removed  tlie  covering  of  the  ark,  and 
looked,  and,  behold,  the  face  of  the  ground  was 
dry.  And  in  the  second  month,  on  the  seven 
and  twentieth  day  of  the  month,  was  the  earth 
dried." 

Assuming  that  this  flood  occurred  at  the  close 
of  the  Cretaceous  period,  or  about  that  time,  let 
us  observe  the  remarkable  coincidence  of  the 
facts  stated  in  the  Scripture  narrative  with 
Avhat  we  may  fairly  infer  from  the  geological 
record. 

I  have  said  that  it  was  at  this  juncture,  as 
proved  by  a  study  of  the  rocks,  that  the  larger 
part  of  Australia  and  a  large  portion  of  South 
America  and  probably  the  entire  chain  of  the 
Australian  islands  were  lifted  out  of  the  sea,  and 
possibly  the  archipelagoes  of  Polj^nesia  in  gen- 
eral. Lyell  says,  "  Sudden  elevations  of  large 
continents  from  beneath  the  waters  of  the  sea 
have  figain  and  again  produced  waves  which 
have  swept  over  vast  regions  of  the  earth."  Like 
results  would  be  produced  also  by  the  lifting  of 
the  sea-bottom.  Hugh  Miller  says,  "  Several  of 
our  first  geologists  hold  that  some  of  the  for- 
midable cataclysms  of  the  remote  past  may  have 
been  occasioned  by  the  sudden  upheavel  of  vast 


270  GENESIS   AND   MODERN    SCIENCE. 

contiiieut.s,  wliicli  by  disjilacing  great  bodies  of 
water  and  rolling  them  outward  in  the  eharac- 
ter  of  successive  waves,  inundated  wide  re- 
gions." ^ 

Suppose,  now,  that  these  lands  emerged 
from  the  South  Pacific  Ocean  at  that  time.  As 
they  rose  they  would  cause  great  waves  of  the 
sea  to  spread  out  in  every  direction.  These 
waves,  rushing  toward  the  east  and  north-east, 
would  overwdielni  the  American  continent, 
and  toward  the  west,  north,  and  north-west, 
would  sweep  over  Africa,  Asia,  and  Europe. 
The  continuance  of  tbis  rising  would  cause 
wave  after  wave  to  follow  in  the  course  of  de- 
struction. Notice  how  particularly,  first  of  all, 
we  are  given,  as  the  cause  of  the  Flood,  all  the 
fountains  of  the  great  deep  were  broken  iq'^^  thus 
showing  the  Deluge  to  have  been  mainly  an  in- 
vasion of  the  land  l)y  the  sea,  accompanied  with 
continuous  rain. 

What  more  simple  yet  accurate  language 
could  have  been  employed  to  describe  this 
event!'-'  Tbe  waters  rose  higher  and  higher, 
until  every  hill  that  was  under  the  whole  hcav- 

1  The  TesfiDioiii/  of  the  llorls,  p.  3(i0. 

-  The  words  "fountains  of  the  great  deep"  are  re- 
inarlctibly  well  chosen  to  describe  the  phenomenal 
ap])earance  of  the  sea  thus  eansed.  The  l)()iliiig  np 
of  Ihe  water  in  certain  definite  i)h-i('es  and  tlie  out- 
S})r('adiiii;  waA'es  tlierefroin  would  readily  .suggest  to 
a  beholder  the  idea  of  fountains  in  the  deep. 


THE   DELUGE.  271 

ens  was  covered.  This  shows  unmistakably 
that  the  Deluge  was  not  local,  but  universal. 
Finally  the  mountains  were  covered.  In  this 
connection  we  must  remember  that  it  was  not 
until  afterward,  in  the  Tertiary,  that  the  mount- 
ains attained  their  present  height.^ 

Unless  physical  conditions  were  very  differ- 
ent four  thousand  years  ago  (and  there  is  no 
proof  whatever  of  any  difference),  the  Deluge 
could  not  have  been  caused  wholly  by  a  rain- 
fall. The  atmosphere  in  its  present  condition 
could  not  contain  a  sufficient  quantity  of  water 
in  the  form  of  vapor  to  cover,  when  precipitated 
as  rain,  the  entire  surface  of  the  globe  to  a  depth 
exceeding  the  height  of  the  mountains  of  the 
earth.  "  There  is  a  very  great  difference  in  the 
quantity  [of  rain]  which  is  deposited  on  differ- 

^  The  elevation  of  the  mountains  was  not  caused  by 
an  upheaval  of  the  earth's  crust  in  a  radial  direction, 
but  rather  by  a  lateral  force,  occasioned  by  the  shrink- 
ing or  contraction  of  the  earth's  crust,  which  resulted 
from  the  cooliug  of  the  globe.  This  can  be  familiarly 
ilhistrated  by  means  of  a  stiff  table-cloth  upon  a  table. 
If  the  cloth  is  moved  sidewise  upon  the  table,  by  the 
hands,  in  two  opposite  directions,  the  intervening  por- 
tion of  the  cloth  is  raised  in  ridges,  though  the  force 
applied  is  lateral. 

''  After  the  Jurassic  period,  or  near  its  close,  tlie 
lofty  ranges  of  the  Sierra  Nevada,  on  the  eastern 
boundary  of  California  and  the  western  of  the  Great 
Plateau  or  Basin ;  of  the  Wahsatch,  on  the  eastern 


272  CENESIS    AND    MODERN    SCIENCE. 

ent  parts  of  the  earth.  Most  rain  falls  where 
hilly  or  elevated  coasts  are  exposed  to  the  inflow 
of  warm  ocean-winds,  and  least  where  prevalent 
w^inds  drift  in  from  cold,  dry  regions  to  low- 
lying,  sunny  lands.  Bat  over  and  above  this 
there  are  circumstances  connected  with  the 
sculpturing  and  exposure  of  the  land  which 
make  the  difference  very  great  within  very  nar- 
row limits  of  territory.  Thus  in  Cumberland 
there  are  i)laces  within  2  miles  of  each  other, 
at  one  of  which  the  average  annnal  rain-fall  is 
47  inches  more  than  it  is  at  the  other.  The 
annual  fall  at  any  one  place  also  differs  materi- 
ally in  different  years,  according  as  warm  and 
moist  or  as  cold  and  dry  winds  have  been  pre- 
dominant. On  account  of  the  great  diversity 
which  attains  in  the  amount  of  rain  deposited 

boundary  of  tlie  same  i)lateaTi,  just  east  of  Great  Salt 
Lake;  and  of  the  Humboldt  rauges  over  this  plateau, 
besides  other  ranges,  were  made.  Triassic  and  Juras- 
sic fossils  have  been  found  in  the  rocks  of  the  Sierra 
Nevada,  while  Cretaceous  f ossiliferous  beds  lie  uncon- 
formably  over  tlie  upturned  strata  of  the  mountains ; 
the  latter  fact  proving  that  the  mountain-making  oc- 
curred before  the  Cretaceous  era.  Tlie  ejections  of 
trap  in  the  Triassic-Jurassic  areas  of  the  Atlantic  bor- 
der occurred  previously  to  the  Cretaceous  period,  and 
perhaps  contemporaneously  with  the  making  of  the 
mountains  on  the  Pacific  border"  {Text-hook  of  Geology, 
Dana,  p.  183).  As  to  European  and  Asiatic  mount- 
ains, see  post,  p.  287  et  seq. 


THE   DELUGE.  LM) 

Oil  different  parts  of  tlie  earth,  it  becomes  very 
difficult  to  ascertain  what  the  sum  total  over 
the  whole  earth  must  be.  If  the  amomit  of 
water  that  is  throAvn  up  into  the  air  from  seas, 
rivers,  moist  ground,  and  living  vegetation 
conld  be  measured,  that,  of  course,  would  give 
a  fair  estimate  of  the  rain-fall  of  the  earth,  be- 
cause it  may  be  safely  assumed  that  all  the  water 
which  is  raised  in  the  air  as  vapor  is  ultimately 
thrown  down  again  to  the  ground  as  rain.  Com- 
modore Maary,  the  distinguished  meteorologist 
of  the  United  States,  calculated  that  about  16 
feet  of  water,  assumed  to  be  of  the  same  area  as 
the  surface  of  the  earth,  are  evaporated  into  the 
air  within  a  year.  More  recent  authorities  con- 
sider, however,  that  this  estimate  must  be 
largely  in  excess  of  the  truth,  and  that  if  all  the 
rain  which  falls  upon  the  earth  were  allowed  to 
accumulate  in  a  basin  of  the  same  area  as  the 
terrestrial  surface,  it  would  amount  to  a  col- 
lection 8  feet  deep  at  the  end  of  a  j-ear."^  As 
stated  in  the  chapter  concerning  "  the  second 
day,"  the  average  quantity  of  water  held  in  the 
air,  if  precipitated  at  once,  wonld  cover  Europe, 
Asia,  Africa,  North  America,  and  South  Amer- 
ica to  the  depth  of  oidy  3  feet. 

From  these  considerations  it  seems  certain 
that  the  Deluge,  if  universal,  or,  indeed,  if  only 
local,  could  not  have  been  caused  wholly  or 
principally  by  a  rain-fall. 

1  Robert  James  Manii,  F.  R.  A.  S. 


274  GENESIS   AND   MODERN   SCIENCE. 

The  language  of  the  Bible  is  not  consistent 
with  tlie  theory  of  a  j^artial  delnge.  ^^  All  the 
high  hills,  that  were  lo/dcr  the  irhole  heaven,  were 
covered.  Fifteen  cubits  upward  did  the  waters 
prevail ;  and  the  mountains  were  covered."  The 
theory  of  a  partial  deluge  is  one  adopted  under 
a  supposed  necessity;  but  wliile  it  avoids  one 
difficulty,  it  raises  another,  and  violence  is  done 
to  the  divine  word,  without  any  advantage. 

But  to  resume  the  discussion.  We  know 
that  huge  waves  are  raised  in  the  sea  by  the 
oscillations  of  the  earth's  crust  caused  by  earth- 
quakes, and  that  these  vast  waves  tra\'erse  the 
ocean  from  shore  to  sliore.  The  great  earth- 
quake at  Lisbon  sent  a  monstrous  wave  across 
the  Atlantic,  not  less  than  20  feet  in  height 
when  it  reached  the  West  Indies,  and  which 
also  produced  marked  effects  in  the  harbors  of 
Boston  and  New  York.  In  like  manner  waves 
pro2)agated  by  earthquakes  in  Japan  have 
crossed  the  Pacific  and  reached  the  shores  of 
California. 

From  a  description  of  the  earthquake  in  Peru 
in  1868  ^  I  make  the  following  abstract  and 
quotations.  At  5.05  p.m.,  August  lo,  1868,  an 
earthquake  occurred  in  Peru,  which  was  the 
most  severe  in  the  memory  of  man,  destroying 
tens  of  thousands  of  lives  and  property  of  the 
value  of  many  millions.  Wliile  other  earth- 
quakes have  been  accompanied  with  oceanic  dis- 
1  Frazer''s  Magazine,  July,  1870. 


THE   DELUGE.  2(0 

turbance,  "in  no  instance  has  it  ever  before 
been  known  that  a  well-marked  wave  of  enor- 
nious  proportions  should  have  been  propagated 
over  the  largest  ocean  tract  on  our  globe,  by  an 
earthquake  whose  direct  action  was  limited  to 
a  relatively  small  region,  and  that  region  not 
situated  in  the  center,^  but  on  one  side  of  the 
wide  area  traversed  by  the  wave."  The  earth- 
quake shock  lasted  but  a  few  minutes.  The 
swaying  motion  changed  to  a  vertical  upheaval. 
In  about  twenty  minutes  the  sea  retired,  but 
soon  returned  with  tremendous  force,  over- 
whelming towns.  The  incoiuiug  wave  was  50 
feet  high,  and  the  sea  thus  flowed  in  repeatedly. 
The  wave  swept  swiftly  away  on  every  side  from 
the  scene  of  the  earthquake,  near  the  Peruvian 
Andes.  Its  width  varied  from  200  to  1,000 
miles,  and  iu  mid-Pacific  its  length  was  not  less 
than  8,000  miles.  It  swept  on  at  the  rate  of  300 
to  400  miles  per  hour  over  the  larger  part  of  the 
Pacific.  Striking  the  shores  of  southern  Cali- 
fornia it  was  GO  feet  in  height.  This  was  fully 
5,000  miles  distant  from  the  center  of  disturb- 
ance. It  inundated  the  Sandwich  Islands, 
some  of  the  smaller  islands  being  wholly  sub- 
merged. It  reached  Japan,  more  than  10,500 
miles  from  Peru,  on  August  14.  A  distance 
about  two-fifths  of  the  circumference  of  the 
earth,  which  our  swifter  ships  could  not  trav- 
erse in  less  than  six  or  seven  weeks,  had  been 
^  As  is  Australia. 


276  GENESIS   AND   IMODEEN    SCIENCE. 

swept  over  by  this  enormous  undulation  in  a 
few  hours.  In  the  southern  Pacific  some  of  the 
Marquesas  and  Tuamotu  islands  wore  sub- 
merged by  it.  The  Navigator's  Islr.nds,  New 
Zealand,  and  Australia  were  likewise  visited  by 
the  great  sea  wave  in  the  morning  of  August 
14.  "When  we  remember  that  had  not  the 
effects  of  the  earth-shock  on  the  water  been  lim- 
ited by  the  shore  of  South  America,  a  wave  of 
disturbance,  equal  to  that  which  traveled  west- 
ward, would  have  swept  toward  the  east,  we 
see  that  the  force  of  the  shock  was  sufficient 
to  have  disturbed  the  waters  of  an  ocean  cover- 
ing the  whole  surface  of  the  earth ;  for  the  sea 
waves,  which  reached  Yokohama  in  one  direc- 
tion and  Port  Fairy  ^  in  another,  had  each  trav- 
ersed a  distance  nearly  equal  to  one-half  the 
earth's  circumference,  so  that  if  the  surface  of 
the  earth  were  all  sea,  waves  setting  out  in  op- 
posite directions  would  have  met  each  other  at 
the  antipodal  point  of  their  starting-place." 

This  result,  though  so  vast  and  far-reaching, 
was  produced  by  a  slight  vertical  movement  of 
a  small  portion  of  the  earth's  crust,  during  a 
"few  minutes."  The  limit  of  the  actual  move- 
ment of  the  disturbed  portion  of  the  earth's 
surface,  as  observed  in  some  recent  earthquakes, 
has  been  found  not  to  exceed  3  inches,  although 
the  shock  has  been  felt  over  hundreds  of  miles. 
"What,  then,  must  have  been  the  effect  upon 
^  South  Victoria. 


THE   DELUGE.  277 

the  sea  occasioned  by  the  bodily  upheaval  of 
continental  masses  of  land,  like  the  great  Ter- 
tiary expanse  in  Australia,  measuring  in  round 
figures  950  by  1,050  miles,  and  the  Patagonian 
uplift,  1,200  miles  long,  "  raised  in  mass,"  as  Dar- 
win says,  to  the  height  of  between  300  and  400 
feetfi 

This  idea  of  successive  waves  invading  the 
land  corresponds  well  with  the  reiterated  de- 
scription of  how  the  waters  prevailed  more  and 
more.  It  also  accounts,  best  of  all  theories,  for 
the  rapid  subsidence  of  the  waters.  We  are  told 
that  the  waters  prevailed  upon  the  earth  one 
hundred  and  fifty  days  and  then  abated,  and, 
two  hundred  and  twent3-five  days  later,  "was 
the  earth  dried."  If  so  much  water  as  to  have 
covered  the  hills  and  mountains  had  been  added 
to  the  volume  of  the  sea,  and  so  have  covered 
the  whole  glol^e  to  this  additional  degree,  it  is 
simply  impossible  that  the  volume  of  water  so 
added  could  have  been  wholly  disposed  of  in  so 
short  a  time.  It  could  not  have  evaporated 
away,  neither  could  it  have  been  absorbed  by 
the  earth.  Where  did  it  all  go!  But  if  the 
Flood  was  caused  by  the  vast  waves  of  the  sea 

^  Lyell  remarks  that  the  instantaneous  formation  of 
a  shoal,  where  before  was  a  deep  ocean,  would  dis- 
place a  vast  body  of  water,  which,  being  heaped  up  to 
a  great  height,  might  roll  over  a  continent  and  even 
permanently  submerge  a  large  portion  of  it  {Princi- 
ples of  Geologii,  p.  156). 


278  GENESIS   AND   MODERN   SCIENCE. 

overwhelming  the  land,  the  waters,  as  soon  as 
the  disturbing  cause  ceased,^  would  flow  back 
to  their  former  level ;  or,  in  the  marvelously  ac- 
curate words  of  Scripture,  "the  waters  returned 
from  off  the  earth  continually." 

Then,  again,  if  these  tidal  waves  swept  in  from 
the  direction  of  AustraUa,  they  would  have  borne 
away  the  ark  in  a  north-westerly  direction  (as- 
suming that  the  former  dwelling-place  of  Noah 
was  near  the  Euphrates  or  in  that  general  divis- 
ion of  Asia),  and  the  ark  would  Lave  drifted 
up  into  Asia  Minor,  under  the  impulse  of  the 
currents  setting  in  from  the  south-east  toward 
"  the  mountains  of  Ararat,"  as  we  are  told  it 
actually  did. 

All  these  things  seem  to  be  so  exactly  as  they 
naturally  would  have  been,  if  the  Flood  occurred 
at  this  period,  that  I  cannot  repress  the  belief 
that  this  was  the  time  of  the  universal  Deluge. 

We  find  traditions  of  the  Flood  in  nearly  all 
lands,  even  those  remote  from  each  other,  and 
these  traditions  essentially  agree.  Thus  we  find 
them  in  Peru  and  Chili,  in  Greece,  Asia  Minor, 
and  in  the  Baltic  region.  Berosus,  the  Chaldean 
historian,  who  wrote  at  Babylon  in  the  time  of 
Alexander,  speaks  of  a  universal  deluge  Avhicli 
he  places  immediately  before  the  reign  of  Bel  us, 
the  father  of  Ninus.     Until  lately  this  was  the 

'  **  The  fountains  atso  of  the  deep  and  the  windows  of 
heaven  were  stopped,  and  the  rain  from  heaven  was 
restrained  "  (Gen.  viii.  2). 


THE   DELUGE.  279 

only  version  of  the  Babylonian  story  known  to 
ns.  It  relates  that  "  the  god  Kronos  appeared 
to  Xisnthnrus,  tenth  king  of  Babylon  (cf.  Noah, 
tenth  patriarch),  in  a  dream  and  warned  him  of 
the  coming  Deluge.  The  details  remind  ns  a 
good  deal  of  the  biblical  narrative,  except  that 
Xisnthnrus  is  accompanied  by  a  steersman  and 
by  his  near  friends.  Even  the  thrice-repeated 
letting  ont  of  the  birds  is  mentioned.  At  last 
the  ship  (as  it  is  called)  grounded  '  on  a  certain 
mountain,'  where  Xisnthnrus  erected  an  altar 
and  sacrificed;  after  which  both  he  and  his 
companions  disappeared  (cf.  the  translation  of 
Enoch).  The  duration  of  the  Deluge  is  not 
stated,  and  its  cause  is  left  to  be  inferred  from 
the  special  commendation  of  Xisuthurns  for 
piety.  Berosus  has  evidently  drawn  from  the 
cuneiform  sources,  but  those  sources  have  not 
yet  been  discovered.  Our  most  valuable  au- 
thority for  the  Babylonian  Deluge  story  is  that 
portion  of  the  eleventh  lay  of  the  great  mytho- 
logical epic  discovered  by  Mr.  George  Smith. 
It  came  from  the  library  of  King  Assurbanipal, 
and  dates  from  about  GGO  b.c.  ;  but  the  Accadinn 
original,  from  which  it  is  translated,  mny  well 
(says  the  cautious  Assyriologue,  Dr.  Schrader) 
have  been  composed  between  1000  and  2000  B.C., 
while  the  myths  themselves  will,  of  course,  l)e 
much  older.  The  hero  of  the  Deluge  l)ears  the 
name  of  Tam-zi  (the  '  sun  of  life,'  cf.  Tamnuz), 
for  so,  with  Mr.  Sayce,  the  signs  should  most 


280  GENESIS    AND   MODERN    SCIENCE. 

probably  be  read,  fie  is  called  the  son  of  Ubara- 
tntii,  an  Accadian  name,  meaning  the  '  splendor 
of  sunset '  (Lenormant,  Sayee).  This  version  of 
the  story  differs  in  several  respects  from  that  of 
Berosus.  The  deity  who  warns  Tam-zi  is  Hea 
(god  of  knowledge  and  of  the  waters),  who 
orders  him  to  bnild  a  ship  and  to  put  into  it  his 
household  and  his  wealth  and  the  beasts  of  the 
field.  All  this  is  related  by  Tam-zi  to  the  (solar) 
hero  '  Izdubar.'  He  tells  how  he  coated  the  ship 
within  and  without  with  bitumen  (cf.  Gen.  vi. 
14),  how  he  intrusted  all  to  a  '  seaman ' ;  how 
Samas,  the  sun-god,  and  other  gods  (Hea  is  not 
now  mentioned)  sent  rain,  and  how  the  rain-flood 
'destroyed  all  life  from  the  face  of  the  earth.' 
(Why  the  Deluge  was  sent  is  a  little  uncertain, 
owing  to  the  mutilated  condition  of  the  tablets.) 
On  the  seventh  day  there  was  a  calm  and  the 
ship  stranded  on  the  mountain  Nizir.  Another 
seven  days  and  Tam-zi  let  out  a  '  dove '  ( ?),  then 
a  swallow,  both  of  which  returned,  and  a  raven, 
which  did  not  return.  Then  he  left  the  ship 
and  made  a  libation.  Mr.  Smith's  ' altar'  is  un- 
certain. Finally  Hea  intercedes  with  Bel  that 
there  be  no  second  deluge,  after  which  Tam-zi 
and  his  wife  and  the  people  were  carried  away 
to  be  like  the  gods."  ^ 

In  Greece  we  have  the  Flood  tradition  of  Deu- 
calion (Pindar),  who  with  Pyrrha  landed  on 

1  Encydopa'dia   Britannka    (ninth    edition),  article 
"  Deluge." 


THE   DELUGE.  281 

Mount  Parnassus,  and  like  Noah  made  a  sac- 
rifice. 

Mr.  Catlin  says  tliat  among  one  hundred  and 
twenty  different  tribes  which  he  visited  in 
North,  South,  and  Central  America,  not  a  tribe 
exists  that  has  not  related  to  him  distinct  or 
vague  traditions  of  a  flood,  in  which  one,  three, 
oveigld  persons  were  saved  above  the  waters  on 
the  top  of  a  high  mountain.  "  Shrewder  intel- 
lects (e.g.,  among  the  Tahitians  and  some  of  the 
American  Indians)  even  clutched  at  phenomena 
like  those  of  fossil  shells  found  on  hills  to  prove 
the  literal  truth  of  their  deluge.  All  through 
Polynesia  we  find  a  flood  tradition  of  a  ship 
standing  on  a  mountain-top.  The  Vedas,  or 
sacred  books  of  the  Hindus,  supposed  to  have 
been  written  a.m.  3300,  fix  the  date  of  the  Deluge 
about  fifteen  hundred  years  before  their  epoch, 
thus  substantially  agreeing  with  the  Bible 
chronology.  The  Ghebres  place  the  same  event 
at  about  the  same  date.  In  China,  too,  we  find 
traditions  of  a  great  flood,  in  the  period  of  Yaou, 
more  than  two  thousand  years  before  our  era, 
and  which  scholars  have  identified  as  the  Noa- 
chian  Deluge. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

THE   DELUGE    (Concluded). 

Many  discussions  have  arisen  concerning  the 
reasonableness  of  the  Bible  history  of  the  Del- 
uge. These  were  formerly  carried  on  with  more 
zeal  than  in  modern  days.  Among  others  was 
the  question  as  to  the  capacity  of  the  ark  to 
contain  its  living  freight  and  the  necessary  food. 
The  ark  was  designed,  not  to  sail,  but  to  float. 
Assuming  the  cubit  to  be  21.8  inches,  the  ark 
was  547  feet  long,  91  feet  wide,  and  51  feet  high 
— that  is,  three  times  the  length  of  a  first-rate 
man-of-war  in  the  British  navy.  Sir  Walter 
Ealeigh,  who  had  more  practical  knowledge  of 
stowage  than  any  other  writer  who  has  dis- 
cussed the  subject,  computed  that  the  space 
was  ample  to  contain  all  the  animals  which  the 
Bible  declares  entered  the  ark;  bnt  modern 
critics  have  denied  his  conclusions,  because  in 
his  time  the  true  number  of  species  was  not  defi- 
nitely known  as  now,  and  say  that  consequently 
liis  computation  was  based  upon  insufficient  in- 

282 


THE   DELUGE.  283 

formation.  Eev.  Dr.  Eobert  Jaiiiieson,  however, 
says  tliat  the  iiiunber  of  animals  would  not  be 
so  large  as  might  at  first  thought  be  imagined. 
"It  has  been  calculated,"  he  says,  "that  there 
are  not  more  than  three  hundred  distinct  spe- 
cies  of  beasts  and  birds,  the  immense  varieties 
m  regard  to  form,  size,  and  color  being  trace- 
able to  the  influence  of  climate  and  other  cir- 
cumstances." 

Another  standard  problem,  which  is  a  favor- 
ite objection  with  skeptical  persons,  is  the  query 
how  the  animals  of  different  climes  and  of  re- 
mote regions  could  have  assembled  at  the  ark 
m  soutli-western  Asia  or  elsewhere.     I  am  not 
aware  that  any  natural  method  of  rendezvous 
has  ever  been  suggested,  although  the  theory 
of  a  "mother  region"  within  the^ Arctic  circle 
to  which  reference  has  already  been  made,  seems 
to  reduce  the  difficulties  of  the  question.    Surely 
the  evident  procession  of  animals  from  a  com- 
mon center  in  the  Arctic  regions  to  the  south  is 
of  great  significance.     Not  oiilv  are  the  inferior 
animals  found  in  the  extreme  parts  of  the  south- 
ern continents,  but  the  lowest  types  of  mankind 
are  also  found  there.^ 

1  Geikie  says,  -The  higher  fmma  of  Australia  is 
more  nearly  akin  to  that  which  flourished  in  Europe 
far  back  in  Mesozoic  time  than  to  the  hving  fauna  of 
any  other  region  of  the  globe"  {Geohx/i,,  p.  619). 

"The  extreme. southern  points  of  the  three  conti- 
nents are  occupied  by  races  which  came  originally, 


284  GENESIS    AND    MODERN    SCIENCE. 

But  the  difficulties  are  not  all  on  the  side  of 
the  believer  of  the  Bible.  How  can  we  account 
(except  on  the  basis  of  its  truthfulness)  for  the 
universality  of  the  tradition  of  the  Flood  ?  How- 
ever varying  as  to  details  and  however  modified 
or  colored  by  the  various  religions  which  have 
embalmed  it  in  human  memory,  it  is  everywhere 
essentially  the  same  story.  Its  antiquity,  its  uni- 
versality, its  essential  harmony,  all  impress  it 
with  the  seal  of  truth.  Other  events,  not  rest- 
ing on  a  hundredth  part  of  such  testimony,  are 
accepted  as  true,  without  so  much  as  a  shadow 
of  doubt.  What  event  of  ancient  history  is 
more  fully  proved !  Besides  the  Old  Testament 
narrative,  we  are  assured  of  the  historical  char- 
acter of  this  event  as  an  actual  fact  in  human 

without  doubt,  from  somewhere  else,  and  which  are 
ranked  in  Tierra  del  Fuego,  at  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope, 
and  in  Tasmania  among  the  lowest  of  the  species. 
These  races,  advancing  in  front  of  the  others,  have 
preserved  the  visible  stamp  of  the  relative  inferiority 
of  the  stock  from  which  they  were  prematurely  de- 
tached. We  have  to  believe,  in  effect,  that  these  three 
branches,  Fuegians,  Bushmen,  and  Tnsmanians,  so 
little  elevated  in  their  physical,  intellectual,  and  moral 
traits,  have  gone  and  planted  themselves  so  far  away 
only  because  the  unoccupied  space  opened  out  before 
them.  Scouts  for  the  rest  of  mankind,  they  have 
reached,  stej)  by  step,  the  extreme  limits  of  the  habit- 
able land"  {Paradise  Found,  p.  442,  quoting  Marquis 
G.  de  Sapor ta). 


THE   DELUGE.  285 

history  by  the  writings  of  St.  PauP  and  St. 
Peter,"  and  even  by  the  words  of  "  the  faithful 
and  true  witness,"  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.^ 
What  other  historical  event  of  antiquity  is 
equally  vouched  for !  We  may  leave  to  the  cu- 
rious the  problem  of  determining  of  how  many 
tons  burden  the  ark  was.  As  to  the  assembling 
of  the  various  animals  from  distant  lands,  we 
may  remark  that  the  scientist  has  essentially 
the  same  problem  to  solve,  with  some  additional 
difficulties,  to  determine  how  the  present  Arctic 
species  of  animals  ever  reached  their  habitat, 
and  whence  they  came.  We  have  seen  that  the 
indubitable  proof,  spread  upon  the  geologic 
page,  is  that  the  Arctic  zone  was  once  torrid, 
and  it  is  evident  that  these  animals  did  not  then 
inhabit  that  region  of  the  earth.  Where  did 
they  then  live?  From  whatever  countries  of 
the  earth  they  first  proceeded,  it  is  obvious  that 
they  must  have  traversed  a  tropical  clime  to 
reach  their  present  dwelling-place.  If  the  skej)- 
tic,  who,  of  course,  accepts  geological  truth,  will 
explain  this  remarkable  and  apparently  impos- 
sible migration,  he  doubtless  will  thereby  afford 
sufficient  material  to  the  Christian  believer  to 
explain  that  earlier  migration.  And,  lastly,  we 
may  (if  the  Flood  occurred  in  the  Tertiary 
period)  call  attention  to  the  fact  that  some  of 
the  species  of  animals  peculiar  to  the  Secondary 

1  Heb.  xi.  7.  1  Pet.  iii.  20 ;  2  Pet.  iii.  4-6. 

3  Matt.  xxiv.  37-39 


286  GENESIS   AND   MODERN   SCIENCE. 

or  Mesozoic  age  did  not  appear  or  survive  in 
the  Tertiary,  and  were  possibly  swept  out  of  ex- 
istence because  they  were  not  preserved  by  Noah, 
as  other  species  were. 

But  whether  or  not  we  can  so  accurately  fix 
the  time  of  this  flood  by  the  testimony  of  the 
rocks,  there  is  no  doubt  that  the  Deluge  was 
caused  in  some  such  manner  as  described,  even 
if  at  a  later  period.  The  fact  that  such  oscilla- 
tions and  movements  of  the  earth's  crust  ha^^e 
occurred  within  the  human  period,  and  even 
within  historic  times,  shows  that  it  is  entirely 
possible  and  probable  that  the  Tertiary  and 
Post-tertiary  formations  have  been  made  since 
the  advent  of  man  upon  the  earth. 

The  geological  evidence  is  "conclusive  for 
the  greater  elevation  of  land  during  the  period 
of  greater  glaciatiou,  as  well  as  for  its  depression 
during  the  interglacial  period.  American  geol- 
ogists estimate  that  a  large  part  of  eastern 
Canada,  with  adjacent  regions,  must  have  been 
at  least  2,000,  and  may  have  been  as  much  as 
3,000  feet  above  its  present  level  during  the 
first  great  glaciation,  while  the  Champlain  ma- 
rine beds  show  that  it  was  some  hundreds  of 
feet  below  the  present  sea-level  during  part  of 
the  interglacial  period.  Scandinavia  stood  at 
least  2,000  feet  higher  than  at  present  during 
the  climax  of  the  glacial  period,  as  proved  by 
the  dei>th  of  the  fiords,  and  afterward  500  or 
GOO  lower,  as  proved  by  the  raised  beaches.    In 


THE   DELUGE.  287 

Great  Britain  and  Ireland  we  have  conclusive 
evidence  both  of  higher  elevation,  and  depres- 
sion of  at  least  1,300  feet,  and  probably  more  than 
2,000  feet,  below  the  present  sea-level,  as  proved 
by  the  marine  shells  on  the  top  of  Moel-Tryfen. 

"But  these  elevations  and  depressions  are 
small  in  amount  as  compared  with  the  mount- 
ain-building which  is  known  to  have  occurred 
in  Asia  in  comparatively  recent  geological  times. 
Here  the  Himalayas,  stretching  for  1,500  miles 
from  east  to  west,  and  rising  to  heights  of  from 
20,000  to  29,000  feet  above  the  sea,  have  been 
formed  in  great  part  during  this  period." 

In  the  Eocene  and  Miocene  formations  "  the 
Alps  were  certainly  10,000  feet  lower  than  their 
present  level,  and  the  Himalayas  more  so."  ^ 

"  Many  of  the  great  mountains  of  the  globe, 
as  the  Pyrenees,  Alps,  Carpathians,  Himalayas, 
etc.,  received  then  [in  the  Eocene]  a  large  part 
of  their  elevation,  as  is  proved  by  their  con- 
taining Eocene  rocks  in  their  structure,  or  by 
their  bearing  them  about  their  summits.  Thus 
it  is  learned  that  the  elevation  of  the  Pyrenees, 
though  commenced  before  the  close  of  the  Cre- 
taceous, was  mainly  produced  in  the  middle  or 
Liter  part  of  the  Eocene,  as  also  that  of  the 
Julian  Alps,  the  Apennines  and  Carpathians, 
and  that  of  heights  in  Corsica.  The  HimalayaSj 
in  their  western  part  about  Cashmere,  have 
nummulitic  or  Eocene  beds  at  a  height  of  16,500 
^  Human  Origins,  p.  306. 


288  GENESIS   AND   MODEEN   SCIENCE. 

feet;  so  that  even  this  great  chain,  although 
earlier  elevated  to  the  east,  was  not  completed 
before  the  middle  Eocene ;  and  even  later  than 
this  it  received  a  considerable  part  of  its  eleva- 
tion, as  later  Tertiary  beds  at  lower  levels  show. 
The  elevation  of  the  Western  Alps,  including 
Mont  Blanc,  is  referred  by  Elie  de  Beaumont  to 
the  close  or  latter  part  of  the  Miocene  period, 
and  that  of  the  Eastern  Alps,  along  the  Bernese 
Oberland,  to  the  close  of  the  Pliocene.  An  ele- 
vation of  3,000  feet  took  place  in  Sicily  after 
the  Pliocene.  Many  parts  of  the  region  of  the 
Andes  were  raised  3,000  to  5,000  feet  or  more 
in  the  course  of  the  Tertiaiy  period."^ 

"  Man  clearly  existed  in  the  preglacial  period, 
and  was  already  widely  spread  and  in  consider- 
able numbers  in  the  early  glacial.  ...  To  this 
must  be  added  an  indefinitely  long  period  be- 
yond, unless  we  are  prepared  to  disprove  the 
apparently  excessive  strong  evidence  for  the  hu- 
man race  in  the  Pliocene  and  even  in  the  Mio- 
cene periods — evidence  which  has  been  rapidly 
accumulating  of  late  years,  and  to  which,  so 
far  as  I  know,  there  has  been  no  serious  and  un- 
biased attempt  at  scientific  refutation,  .  .  .  and, 
if  Professor  Ameghino's  discoveries  .  .  .  are 
confirmed,  in  the  vastly  more  remote  period  of 
the  early  Eocene."  - 

The  earth  even  now  has  not  become  fixed  in 

1  Text-hook  of  Geology,  Dana,  p.  218. 

2  Human  Oriyins,  p.  316. 


THE  DELUGE.  289 

its  condition.  In  recent  times  islands  have  risen 
suddenly  from  the  ocean,  and  volcanoes  have 
towered  above  the  waters,  while  in  other  places 
islands  have  sunk  beneath  the  waves.  Many- 
instances  are  known  of  these  great  changes  in 
level.  Beds  of  recent  shells  have  been  found  in 
many  places  elevated  from  100  to  700  feet  above 
the  sea.  Portions  of  Sweden  are  subsiding. 
Greenland  has  been  subsiding  continuously  for 
the  past  four  hundred  years.  Hence  it  is  entirely 
credible  that  during  the  lifetime  of  the  early 
patriarchs  in  Asia,  vast  changes  were  going  on 
in  all  parts  of  the  earth,  and  the  later  deposits 
and  formations  were  then  m  ade.  Nor  is  it  a  valid 
objection  that  such  vicissitudes  of  climate  could 
not  have  occurred  in  the  human  period,  for,  as 
we  have  seen,  it  has  been  demonstrated  that 
men  survived  the  horrors  of  the  ice  age,  and 
human  bones  have  been  found  beneath  the 
glacial  drift. 

Figuier  attributes  the  Flood  (which,  however, 
he  claims  was  only  local)  to  an  nplieaval  of  a 
part  of  the  long  chain  of  mountains  which  di- 
verge from  the  Caucasus.  He  says  that  the 
earth  opened,  and  from  the  fissures  volcanic 
matter  escaped,  as  also  watery  vapors  and  steam 
(accompanied  with  lava),  which  dissipated  and 
fell  as  rain,  and  the  plains  were  deluged  with 
volcanic  mud.^  This  theory,  however,  does  not 
agree  in  any  respect  with  the  Bible  narrative, 

1  The  World  before  the  Deluge,  p.  429. 


290  GENESIS   AND   MODERN   SCIENCE. 

and  seems  untenable  as  an  explanation  of  the 
Noachian  Deluge. 

Under  the  supposed  exigencies  of  the  subject 
there  has  been  a  strong  disposition  to  consider 
the  Flood  as  partial  rather  than  universal.  One 
has  written :  "  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the 
Flood  was  universal  so  far  as  man  was  con- 
cerned; we  mean  that  it  extended  to  all  the 
then  known  world.  The  literal  truth  of  the  nar- 
rative obliges  us  to  believe  that  the  whole  hu- 
man race,  except  eight  persons,  perished  by  the 
waters  of  the  Flood.  ...  But  the  language  of 
the  Book  of  Genesis  does  not  compel  us  to  sup- 
pose that  the  whole  surface  of  the  globe  was 
actually  covered  with  water,  if  the  evidence  of 
geology  requires  us  to  adopt  the  hypothesis  of 
a  partial  deluge."^  The  very  emphatic  lan- 
guage, "  all  the  high  hills,  that  were  under  the 
whole  heaven,  were  covered,"  should  be  limited  in 
meaning,  it  is  thought,  because  elsewhere  we 
read  that  "  all  countries  came  into  Egypt  to 
Joseph  for  to  buy  corn,"  and  that  "  there  went 
out  a  decree  from  C^sar  Augustus,  that  all  the 
world  should  be  taxed."  But  such  a  forced  in- 
terpretation by  no  means  relieves  the  problem 
from  difficulty. 

If  the  Flood  were  partial, — that  is,  local, — it 
must  have  occurred  in  one  of  two  ways :  either 
the  water  rose  above  the  highest  mountains  of 
the  flooded  region,  or  that  region,  with  its  liigh- 

1  The  Old  Testament  History,  Smith,  p.  47. 


THE   DELUGE.  291 

est  mountains,  sank  below  the  level  of  the  sea. 
So  much  as  this  is  certain,  if  the  high  hills  and 
mountains  anywhere  were  entirely  covered  with 
water. 

First,  did  the  waters,  either  from  the  ocean 
or  the  clouds,  or  from  both  sources,  ever  rise  to 
a  level  higher  than  the  summit  of  the  highest 
mountain  of  the  ill-fated  region  (wherever  it 
may  have  been),  and  "  fifteen  cubits  upward  "  ? 
Then,  as  surely  as  water  seeks  its  own  level,  it 
must  have  overflowed  into  the  adjacent  regions, 
unless,  by  a  miracle  more  stupendous  than  that 
at  the  Red  Sea,  "the  floods  stood  upright  as  an 
heap,^''  and  "  the  waters  were  a  wall  unto  them 
on  their  right  hand,  and  on  their  left,"  and  be- 
fore and  behind  as  well.  For  illustration,  sup- 
pose an  inland  region  such  as  the  four-sided 
State  of  Colorado,  having,  among  other  high 
hills,  a  mountain  (Pike's  Peak)  whose  altitude 
is  more  than  14,000  feet.^  Now,  if  water  could 
be  poured  ujion  Colorado  until  the  water-level 
rose  higher  than  Pike's  Peak,  it  is  certain  that, 
unless  there  should  be  a  miracle  performed,  or 
a  sufiiciently  strong  and  high  retaining-wall 
built  on  all  four  sides  of  the  State,  the  water 
must  overflow  into  the  neighboring  regions  un- 
til a  barrier  could  be  reached;  otherwise  the 
flood  could  not  stand  above  the  mountain-peak 
for  months.  The  crossing  of  a  comparatively 
shallow  arm  of  the  Red  Sea  by  the  children  of 

^  The  height  of  Mount  Ararat  exceeds  17,000  feet. 


292  GENESIS  AND  MODEEN   SCIENCE. 

Israel  upon  a  dry  path  cleft  through  the  waves 
was  so  grand  and  so  wonderful  a  miracle  that 
it  is  many  times  referred  to  in  the  Bible ;  and 
yet  that  miracle  continued  only  a  few  hours, 
and,  in  part  at  least,  was  caused  by  "  a  strong 
east  wind  all  that  night,"  which  "  made  the  sea 
dry  land,  and  the  waters  were  divided  " ;  while 
the  miracle  above  invented  to  obviate  the  diffi- 
culties of  the  Noachian  Deluge  requires  that  a 
mass  of  water  thousands  of  miles  long  and 
thousands  of  miles  wide  and  above  17,000  feet 
high  should  be  maintained  in  position  for  one 
hundred  and  fifty  days  by  means  which  cannot 
even  be  imagined. 

If,  to  avoid  this  absurdity,  the  skeptical  reader 
of  the  Pentateuch  seizes  the  other  horn  of  the 
dilemma,  and  concludes  that  the  land,  with  its 
high  hills  and  mountains,  sank  so  that  the  wa- 
ters of  the  sea  overwhelmed  and  submerged 
them,  the  difficulties  of  the  problem  do  not  van- 
ish, but  a  more  amazing  and  unprecedented 
miracle  is  required.  To  have  the  advantage  of 
a  specific  illustration,  we  will  take  the  theory 
born  in  "  the  vast  reveries  of  Hugh  Miller " — 
surely  a  reverent  student  of  "the  two  records. 
Mosaic  and  geological."  He  says,^  "  Let  us  see 
whether  we  cannot  originate  a  theory  of  the 
Deluge  free  from  at  least  the  palpable  monstros- 
ities of  the  older  ones."  This  is  the  theory: 
There  is  a  remarkable  portion  of  the  globe, 
^  The  Testimony  of  the  EocJcSf  p.  357. 


THE  DELUGE.  293 

chiefly  in  Asia,  but  extending  into  Europe 
where  the  rivers  do  not  flow  into  the  ocean,  but 
are  all  "turned  inward,"  losing  themselves  in 
the  lakes  of  a  rainless  district  toward  the  east, 
and  into  seas  such  as  the  Caspian  and  the  Aral 
in  the  west.  In  it  are  extensive  districts  still 
under  the  level  of  the  ocean.  The  shores  of  the 
Caspian  Sea  are  more  than  83  feet  beneath  the 
shores  of  the  Black  Sea,  and  the  steppe  of  As- 
tracan  is  about  30  feet  below  the  Baltic.  In 
this  depressed  region  is  Mount  Ararat.  "  Let 
us  suppose  that,  the  hour  of  judgment  having 
at  length  arrived,  the  land  began  gradually  to 
sink ;  .  .  .  further  let  us  suppose  that  the  de- 
pression took  place  slowly  and  equably  for  forty 
days  together,  at  the  rate  of  about  400  feet  per 
daij,  a  rate  .  .  .  which  would  have  rendered  it- 
self apparent  as  but  a  persistent  inward  flowing 
of  the  sea ;  and  further  suppose  that  a  volcanic 
outburst  coincident  with  that  depression  af- 
fected the  atmosphere  so  as  to  cause  heavy  rains 
to  fall  during  all  that  time,  which,  though  they 
could  not  add  more  than  5  or  6  inches  per  day 
to  the  actual  volume  of  the  Flood,  yet  seemed  to 
constitute  one  of  its  main  causes.  The  depres- 
sion, extending  to  the  Euxine  Sea  and  the  Per- 
sian Gulf  on  one  hand,  and  to  the  Gulf  of  Fin- 
land on  the  other,  would  open  up  by  three 
separate  channels  the  fountains  of  the  great 
deep,  and  which  included,  let  us  suppose,  an 
area  of  about  2,000  miles  each  way,  would,  at 


294  GENESIS   AND   MODEKN   SCIENCE. 

the  end  of  the  fortieth  day,  be  sunk  in  its  cen- 
ter to  the  depth  of  16,000  feet — a  depth  sufficiently 
profound  to  bury  the  loftiest  mountains  of  the 
district ;  and  yet,  having  a  gradient  of  declina- 
tion of  but  16  feet  per  mile,  the  contour  of  its 
hills  and  i^lains  would  remain  apparently  what 
they  had  been  before.  The  doomed  inhabitants 
would  see  but  the  water  rising  along  the  mount- 
ain-sides, and  one  refuge  after  another  swept 
away,  till  the  last  witness  of  the  scene  would 
have  perished  and  the  last  hill-top  would  have 
disappeared.  And  when,  after  a  hundred  and 
fifty  days  had  come  and  gone,  the  depressed  hol- 
low would  have  begun  slowly  to  rise,  and  when, 
after  the  fifth  month  had  passed,  the  ark  would 
have  grounded  on  the  summit  of  Mount  Ararat, 
all  that  could  have  been  seen  from  the  upper 
window  of  the  vessel  would  be  simply  a  bound- 
less sea,  roughened  by  tides,  now  flowing  out- 
ward, with  a  reversed  course,  toward  the  distant 
ocean,  by  the  three  great  outlets  which,  during 
the  period  of  depression,  had  given  access  to  the 
waters.  Noah  would,  of  course,  see  that  '  the 
fountains  of  the  deep  were  stopped,'  and  '  the 
waters  returning  from  off  the  earth  continually' ; 
but  whether  the  Deluge  had  been  partial  or  uni- 
versal he  could  neither  see  nor  know." 

Nothing  in  all  geological  history,  full  as  it  is 
of  cataclysms  and  vast  movements  of  the  earth's 
crust,  approaches  the  stupendous  miracle  which 
Hugh  Miller  has  thus  conjured  up.    He  soberly 


THE   DELUGE.  295 

asks  us  to  believe  that  as  recently  as  2348  B.C. 
the  crust  of  the  earth  was  in  so  plastic  a  condi- 
tion (although  there  was  in  the  very  locality 
affected  a  human  population  "amounting  to 
several  millions  ")  that  a  region  of  about  4,000,- 
000  square  miles,  with  many  high  hills  and  a 
mountain-peak  16,000  feet  high,  besides  other 
lesser  mountains,  sank  steadily  for  forty  days 
at  the  rate  of  400  feet  a  day  (or  about  17  feet 
an  hour — about  3f  inches  a  minute),  and  this 
so  evenly  and  smoothly  as  to  preserve  the  con- 
tour of  the  hills  and  plains  and  to  present  merely 
the  phenomenon  of  arising  sea ;  that  this  remark- 
able subsidence  continued  until  the  highest  point 
of  the  highest  mountain  sank  just  below  the  level 
of  the  water,  thus  drowning  the  last  survivor 
of  mankind  and  the  last  animnl — whereupon  this 
vast  region,  after  one  hundred  and  fifty  days, 
began  to  rise  again  slowly  and  steadily  until  it 
resumed  substantially  its  former  height.  This 
remarkable  movement — which,  however,  would 
not  have  accomplished  the  expressed  purpose  of 
God — he  calmly  asks  us  to  believe  instead  of  the 
"  palpable  monstrosities"  of  the  Bible  narrative ! 
Here  is  a  vertical  movement  of  32,000  feet — 
16,000  downward  and  16,000  uj)ward — accom- 
plished in  comparatively  a  few  days,  at  a  time 
far  advanced  into  the  human  period.  Where 
and  when  was  there  any  geological  event  to 
compare  with  it  in  magnitude  ?  Who  can  be- 
lieve it? 


296  GENESIS   AND   MODERN   SCIENCE. 

Supposing  that  the  whole  human  race  inhab- 
ited this  submerged  country,  it  is  indeed  evi- 
dent that  all  mankind  would  have  perished  in 
this  catastrophe,  except  those  who  were  in  the 
refuge  of  the  ark ;  but  would  such  a  flood  have 
been  the  fulfillment  of  the  threat  of  God,  "  Be- 
hold, I,  even  I,  do  bring  a  flood  of  waters  upon 
the  earth,  to  destroy  all  flesh,  tvherein  is  the 
breath  of  life,  from  under  heaven ;  and  every 
thing  that  is  in  the  earth  shall  die  "  1  ^  Could  it 
be  true  that,  as  the  result  of  such  a  flood,  "  all 
flesh  died  that  moved  uf)on  the  earth,  both  of 
fowl,  and  of  cattle,  and  of  beast,  and  of  every 
creeping  thing  that  creepeth  upon  the  earth,  and 
every  man :  all  in  whose  nostrils  was  the  breath 
of  life,  of  all  that  was  in  the  dry  land,  died. 
And  every  living  substance  was  destroyed  which 
was  upon  the  face  of  the  ground,  both  man, 
and  cattle,  and  the  creeping  things,  and  the 
fowl  of  the  heaven ;  and  they  were  destroyed 
from  the  earth :  and  Noah  only  remained  alive, 
and  they  that  were  with  him  in  the  ark"!^ 
How  could  such  a  flood  have  destroyed  all  brute 
life  in  North  America,  South  America,  Africa, 
and  Australia  ?  Or  shall  we  say  that  life  in  those 
portions  of  the  earth  was  not  destroyed  at  all  I 

It  is  a  forcible  argument  of  Dr.  Kitto  ^  (Hugh 
Miller  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding^)  when 

1  Gen.  vi.  17.  ^  Qen.  vii.  21-23. 

^  DaUy  Bihle  Tllnsfrations. 

4  The  Testimony  of  the  Rocks,  p.  307. 


THE   DELUGE.  297 

he  wiites,  "  If  the  Deluge  were  but  local,  what 
was  the  need  of  taking  birds  into  the  ark,  and 
among  them  birds  so  widely  diffused  as  the 
raven  and  the  dove!  A  deluge  which  could 
overspread  the  region  which  these  birds  inhabit 
could  hardly  have  been  less  than  universal.  If 
the  Deluge  were  local,  and  all  the  birds  of  these 
kinds  in  that  district  perished  (though  we  should 
think  they  might  have  fled  to  the  uninundated 
regions),  it  woidd  have  been  useless  to  encum- 
ber the  ark  with  them,  seeing  that  the  birds  of 
the  same  species  which  survived  in  the  lands 
not  overflowed  would  speedily  replenish  the  in- 
undated tract  as  soon  as  the  waters  subsided." 
And  following  out  the  same  line  of  thought, 
why  should  Noah  have  taken  the  troul)le  to 
preserve  alive  the  lions,  the  elephants,  the 
snakes,  the  toads,  and  those  undomesticated 
animals  which  are  not  only  useless  to  man,  but 
hostile  to  him  ?  Why  could  he  not,  after  the 
subsidence  of  the  Flood,  import  all  these  ani- 
mals from  the  countries  round  about — from 
Asia,  Europe,  and  Africa ! 

The  Scriptures  plainly  assert  that  Noah  was 
commanded  to  take  with  him  into  the  ark  and 
that  he  did  take  "  two  of  every  sort,"  "  of  every 
living  thing  of  all  flesh,"  "  of  clean  beasts,  and 
of  beasts  that  are  not  clean,  and  of  fowls,  and 
of  every  thing  that  creepeth  upon  the  earth."  ^ 
This   broad   statement   evidently  relates  to  a 

1  Gen.  vi.  19 ;  vii.  8.     See,  however,  Gen.  vii.  2,  3. 


298  GENESIS   AND   MODEKN   SCIENCE. 

world-wide  deluge  and  cannot  fairly  be  con- 
strued as  applicable  to  merely  a  local  flood. 
Yet  some  one  may  say  that  it  refers  to  such 
animals  as  were  indigenous  only  to  the  con- 
demned district.  If  that  interpretation,  how- 
ever, were  true,  such  animals  must  have  been 
very  few,  small,  or  feeble,  and  Noah  need  not 
have  provided  so  enormous  an  ark. 

Finally,  we  may  inquire,  if  the  Flood  were 
only  local,  why  need  Noah  have  built  an  ark  at 
all  f  It  is  certainly  very  amusing  to  read  Mr. 
Miller's  pathetic  description  of  the  pair  of  sloths 
which  crept  by  inches  from  South  America  to 
Asia,  starting  on  this  fearful  journey  at  about 
the  time  when  Noah  laid  the  keel  of  his  famous 
vessel,  and  arriving  one  hundred  and  twenty 
years  afterward — just  in  time  to  embark  with 
him  upon  the  perilous  voyage — and,  after  being 
shipwrecked  on  the  top  of  Mount  Ararat,  re- 
tracing their  weary  steps  to  South  America,  to 
repopulate  the  slothless  hills  and  valleys  of 
their  native  land !  But  a  much  more  sensible 
journey  would  it  have  been  (if  the  Deluge  were 
only  a  local  affair)  for  Noah  and  his  family  to 
leave  the  bad  neighborhood  where  they  had  lived 
so  uncomfortably,  and  remove  to  the  country, 
although  far  off,  which  was  not  doomed  to  be 
flooded.  Instead  of  laboring  so  hard  for  one 
hundred  and  twenty  years,  amid  the  jeers  and 
sneers  of  his  ungodly  neighbors,  he  might  easily 
have  reached  the  land  of  safety,  if  he  had 


THE   DELUGE.  299 

walked  but  one  mile  a  month.  By  so  doing  he 
would  have  spared  himself  great  trouble  and 
expense,  and  also  would  have  saved  succeeding 
generations  much  difficulty  in  striving  to  solve 
the  many  perplexing  problems  of  the  Noachian 
Deluge. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

OBJECTIONS    AND    SUGGESTIONS. 

At  the  very  outset  in  this  discussion  I  frankly 
acknowledged  that  my  theory  is  not  faultless. 
It  is  fairly  open  to  criticism  in  several  directions, 
and  may  ultimately  require  some  modification, 
or,  at  least,  restatement  in  more  exact  language. 
It  is,  however,  inexpedient  at  present  to  attempt 
to  forestall  all  criticism,  and  I  will  content  my- 
self with  an  allusion  to  what  I  anticipate  as  the 
main  objection. 

My  theory  differs  much  from  the  prevalent 
opinion  in  that  it  greatly  shortens  geological 
time  and  brings  certain  of  the  geological  epochs 
well  into  the  human  period.  It  asserts  the  ap- 
pearance of  man  as  far  back  as  the  very  begin- 
ning of  theTriassic,  and  suggests  that  the  Deluge 
occurred  at  the  beginning  of  the  Tertiary  age. 

As  to  this  matter  I  think  that  in  the  current 
theories  there  is  error  in  two  directions :  first, 
that  the  human  period  has  been  shortened,  and 
secondly,  that  the  geological  period  has  been 

300 


OBJECTIONS   AND   SUGGESTIONS.  301 

lengthened.  If  the  time  of  man's  existence 
upon  the  earth  could  be  proved  to  be  of  a  longer 
duration  than  hitherto  estimated,  and  the  time 
for  the  later  geological  formations  could  be 
diminished  by  a  reconsideration  of  the  proofs, 
harmony  could  be  reached  where  now  is  almost 
hopeless  discrepancy.  Let  us  see  whether  com- 
promise in  these  respects  is  possible. 

First  as  to  chronology.  In  many  Bibles  there 
appears  in  the  margin,  upon  nearly  every  page, 
a  date  B.C.  or  a.d.  ;  and  to  some  readers  these 
dates  seem  to  be  a  part  of  the  divine  revelation 
and  to  be  necessarily  true.  They  are,  however, 
no  more  a  part  of  the  record  than  are  the  divis- 
ions into  chapters  and  verses.  All  these  are 
purely  human  contrivances  of  comparatively 
recent  origin — well  enough  for  purposes  of  con- 
venient reference  or  comparison,  but  of  no  exe- 
getical  value,  and  sometimes  actually  hurtful  to 
a  true  comprehension  of  the  subject-matter. 

The  dates  thus  appearing  in  the  margin  are 
those  of  Archbishop  Usher  (1580-1656),  the  ad- 
vocate of  the  shortest  of  the  systems  of  Hebrew 
chronology.  His  date  for  the  Creation  is  4:004: 
B.C.,  and  for  the  Flood  2348  B.C.,  as  against  20,000 
B.C.  and  10,000  b.c.  respectively,  as  argued  by 
Bunsen. 

As  soon  as  we  begin  to  study  Hebrew  chro- 
nology we  encounter  difficulties.    Dr.  William 
Smith  says :^  "The  technical  part  of  Hebrew 
^  Dictionary  of  the  Bible,  article  "  Chronology." 


302  GENESIS    AND   MODERN    SCIENCE. 

chronology  presents  great  difficulties.  The  his- 
toricul  part  of  Hebrew  chronology  is  not  less 
difficult  than  the  technical.  The  information  in 
the  Bible  is,  indeed,  direct  rather  than  inferen- 
tial, although  there  is  very  important  evidence 
of  the  latter  kind,  but  the  present  state  of  the 
numbers  makes  absolute  certainty  in  many 
cases  impossible.  Three  principal  systems  of 
biblical  chronology  have  been  founded,  which 
may  be  termed  the  Long  System,  the  Sliort, 
and  the  Rabbinical.  There  is  a  fourth,  whicli, 
although  an  offshoot  in  part  of  the  last,  can 
scarcely  be  termed  biblical,  inasmuch  as  it  de- 
pends for  the  most  part  upon  theories  not  only 
independent  of,  but  repugnant  to,  the  Bible; 
tliislast  is  at  present  peculiar  to  Baron  Bunson. 
The  principal  advocates  of  the  Long  Chronol- 
ogy are  Jackson,  Hales,  and  Des  Vignoles.  Of 
the  Short  Chronology  Usher  may  l)e  considered 
the  most  able  advocate.  The  Rabbinical  Chro- 
nology accepts  the  biblical  numbers,  but  makes 
the  most  arbitrary  corrections.  For  the  date  of 
the  Exodus  it  has  been  vii-tually  accepted  by 
Bnnsen,  Lepsius,  and  Lord  A.  Horvey.  The 
nuni])ers  given  by  the  LXX.  for  the  antodilu- 
vain  patriarchs  would  place  the  creation  of 
Adam  2,2G2  years  before  the  end  of  the  Flood, 
or  B.C.  cir.  5361  or  5421." 

"  Of  sacred  chronology  there  have  been  vari- 
ous systems.  In  these  the  epochs  are  the  Crea- 
tion of  the  world  and  the  Flood ;  but  the  chief 


OBJECTIONS   AND    SUGGESTIONS.  303 

copies  of  the  Bible  do  not  agree  as  to  the  dates 
of  these  events.  While  the  Hebrew  text  reckons 
4,000  years  from  the  Creation  to  the  birth  of 
Christ,  and  to  the  Flood  1,656  years,  the  Samar- 
itan makes  the  former  much  longer,  though  it 
counts  from  the  Creation  to  the  Flood  only  1,307 
years.  The  Septuagint  version  differs  from  both. 
It  removes  the  Creation  of  the  world  to  6000  be- 
fore Christ  and  2,250  years  before  the  Flood. 
These  differences  have  never  been  reconciled."  ^ 

Although  the  origin  of  the  Septuagint  is 
"  shrouded  in  deep  obscurity,"  yet  its  great  value 
seems  well  established  by  the  fact  that  the  New 
Testament  quotations  from  the  Old  Testament 
are  almost  invariably  given  from  the  Septuagint. 

Considering  the  subject  in  view  of  these  facts, 
it  is  apparent  that  there  are  two  sources  of  diffi- 
culty, one  as  to  the  version,  and  another  as  to 
the  interpretation. 

Still  another  theory  of  chronology  is  set  forth 
by  Professor  Winchell,  with  hearty  approval, 
in  his  Prc-adamites,-  as  follows : 

"  The  unsatisfactory  brevity  of  the  popular 
chronology  confers  great  interest  and  impor- 
tance on  the  attempt  recently  made  by  Eev.  T.  P. 
Crawford  {The  Fatriarchal  Dynasties)  to  show 
that  the  Genesiacal  language,  when  properly  in- 
terpreted, expands  the  patriarchal  periods  to 
more  than  four  times  the  accepted  length.     I 

^  Cliambers's  Encyclopedia,  article  ''  Chronology." 
-  Page  449  et  seq. 


304  GENESIS   AND   MODERN    SCIENCE. 

deem  it  an  appropriate  sequel  of  this  discussion 
of  the  antiquity  of  man  to  explain  Mr.  Craw- 
ford's method. 

"  The  fundamental  position  assumed  by  the 
author  is  a  reformed  reading  of  the  genealogical 
tables  contained  in  the  fifth  and  eleventh  chap- 
ters of  Genesis,  the  first  of  which  traces  the  pos- 
terity of  Adam  to  Noah,  and  the  other  traces  the 
posterity  of  Noah  to  Abraham.  For  the  purjiose 
of  giving  an  intelligible  explanation  of  Mr,  Craw- 
ford's reformed  reading,  I  here  reproduce  the 
biblical  paragraph  touching  the  family  of  Adam. 

"'And  Adam  lived  an  hundred  and  thirty 
years,  and  begat  a  son  in  his  own  likeness,  after 
his  image;  and  called  his  name  Seth:  and  the 
days  of  Adam  after  he  had  begotton  Seth  were 
eight  hundred  years:  and  he  begat  sons  and 
daughters:  and  all  the  days  that  Adam  lived 
were  nine  hundred  and  thirty  years:  and  he 
died.' 

"  A  similar  paragraph  is  recorded  respecting 
each  of  the  antediluvian  patriarchs.  Now  the 
author  maintains  that  the  word  Adam  is  em- 
ployed above  in  a  jyersonal.,  and  afterward  in  a 
family  sense ;  that  the  first  clause  denotes  the 
ii'lwle  life  of  Adam,  and  not  his  age  at  the  birth 
of  Seth ;  that  yolad,  translated  '  begat,'  signifies 
rather  '  appointed,'  and  refers  to  Adam's  desig- 
nation of  Seth  (in  place  of  Abel)  to  be  his  suc- 
cessor ;  that '  likeness '  and  '  image '  refer,  not  to 
personal  appearance,  but  to  character  and  office, 
the  name  Seth  itself  signifying '  the  appointed ' 


OBJECTIONS   AND    SUGGESTIONS.  305 

(Gen.  iv.  25 ;  Seth  seems  to  be  from  sifh,  to  'set,' 
to  *  place,'  to  '  replace ') ;  that  Adam  in  the  next 
clause  refers  to  the  tribe  or  family  of  Adam ; 
that  the  Adamic  family  continued  to  be  ruled 
over  by  successors  not  in  the  line  of  Seth  for  a 
i:)eriod  of  nine  hundred  and  thirty  years ;  that 
thereafter  the  representatives  of  the  Sethic  line 
acceded  to  the  kingship  for  nine  hundred  and 
twelve  years,  when  the  family  of  Enos  assumed 
government,  and  so  on. 

"  These  positions  are  argued  with  much  abil- 
ity. That  the  first  clause  expresses  the  whole 
life  of  Adam  is  maintained  on  the  following 
grounds:  (1)  The  Hebrew  never  employs  the 
verb  lived  with  definite  numbers  to  indicate  the 
age  of  a  man  at  the  birth  of  a  son,  but  it  invari- 
ably says  such  a  one  was  a  sou  of  so  many  years 
u'hen  his  son  was  born,  or  some  other  event 
took  place.  Many  passages  are  cited,  of  which 
see  Genesis  xxi.  5;  xvi.  16;  xvii.  24;  xxi.  4; 
Joshua  xiv.  7 ;  1  Kings  xiv.  21.  On  the  con- 
trary, the  verb  Jived  denotes  the  whole  term  of 
a  man's  life.  See  Genesis  1.  22 ;  xxiii.  1 ;  xxv.  7 ; 
xlvii.  28;  v.  5;  xi.  11;  ix.  28;  2  Kings  xiv.  17; 
Job  xlii.  16.  (2)  Antediluvian  life  is  substan- 
tially asserted  to  have  been  one  hundred  and 
twenty  years  on  an  average  (see  Gen.  vi.  3: 
'  yet  his  days  shall  be  an  hundred  and  twenty 
years ').  (3)  There  is  nowhere  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment any  allusion  to  so  enormous  ages  as 
eight  hundred  and  nine  hundred  years.  On  the 
contrary,  Abraham,  who  was  promiso<i  a  '  good 


306  GENESIS   AND   MODERN    SCIENCE. 

old  age,'  died  at  one  hundred  and  seventy-five 
j'eai's  (Gen.  xv.  15;  xxv.  7,  8).  8o  Isaac  at  one 
hundred  and  eighty  years  was  '  old  and  full  of 
days'  (Gen.  xxxv.  28,  29).  For  further  details 
of  the  reasoning  I  must  refer  the  reader  to  the 
work  itself.  A  paraphrase  of  the  passage  con- 
cerning Adam  would,  therefore,  read  somewhat 
as  follows:  'And  Adam  lived  an  hundred  and 
thirty  years.  And  at  the  close  of  liis  life  he 
aj^pointed  his  son  to  be  his  spiritual  heir  and 
successor,  and  designated  him  Seth,  "the  ap- 
pointed." And  the  duration  of  the  house  of 
Adam,  after  the  appointment  of  Seth,  was  eight 
hundred  years,  represented  by  male  and  female 
descendants.  And  the  whole  duration  of  the 
house  of  Adam  was  nine  hundred  and  tliirty 
years,  and  it  ceased  to  exist.' 

"  The  paragraphs  touching  the  other  antedi- 
luvian patriarchs  are  to  be  similarly  understood. 
It  will  thus  api3ear  that  the  average  duration  of 
life  was  then  one  hundred  and  twenty  years. 
A  similar  interpretation  of  the  eleventh  chapter 
gives  the  average  duration  of  life  after  the  Flood 
at  one  hundred  and  twenty-eight  years.  After 
Abraham  the  ages,  as  stated  in  the  sacred  text, 
range  from  one  hundred  and  ten  to  one  hundred 
and  eighty  years,  with  an  average  of  one  hun- 
dred and  thirty-five  years. 

"  These  conclusions  are  countenanced  by  the 
duration  of  human  life  among  othov  nations  of 
parallel  antiquity.     The  utmost  limit  of  Egyp- 


OBJECTIONS   AND   SUGGESTIONS.  307 

tian  life  was  one  hundred  and  ten  years.  The 
average  life  of  the  eight  kings  of  the  second 
Chaldean  dynasty  was  eighty-eight  years.  Un- 
der the  first  Chinese  dynast}^,  of  four  hundred 
and  thirty-nine  years,  the  average  life  was  sev- 
enty-seven years ;  under  the  second,  of  six  hun- 
dred and  forty-four  years,  it  was  sixty-nine 
years.  These  two  dynasties  extended  from  the 
days  of  Peleg  to  those  of  Solomon.  Many  other 
facts  tend  to  show  that  human  life  in  the  most 
ancient  times  had  a  duration  not  far  from  that 
of  the  Hebrew  patriarchs,  if  we  interpret  the 
first  clause  of  each  paragraph  as  proposed  by 
Mr.  Crawford,  while  the  marvelous  duration  of 
human  life  according  to  the  popular  interpreta- 
tion is  opposed  to  every  item  of  knowledge 
which  we  possess  from  other  sources,  and  is 
supported  only  by  an  interpretation  of  a  docu- 
ment claiming  to  have  originated  in  the  infancy 
of  civilization,  and  recorded  in  a  language  whicli 
for  centuries  lias  been  extinct. 

"  Applying  these  principles  to  the  genealogical 
tables  of  Genesis,  we  obtain  the  following  chron- 
ological table : 

From  Adam  to  the  Flood 7, 737  years 

From  the  Flood  to  tlie  birth  of  Abraham 2,703  '     " 

From  Adam  to  Abraham 10,500       " 

From  tlie  Ijirth  of  A1)raham  to  Christ 2,000       " 

From  Adam  to  Christ 12.500       " 

From  Christ  to  a.d.  1880 1,880       " 

From  Adam  to  1880 14.380       " 


308  GENESIS   AND   MODERN   SCIENCE. 

"  Such  an  interpretation  of  the  faint  traces 
in  our  possession  of  a  biblical  chronology,  what- 
ever its  apparent  adaptation  to  the  facts  and 
the  exigencies  which  they  create,  must  naturally 
stand  or  fall  on  the  result  of  Hebrew  investiga- 
tion. It  is  the  Bible  alone  which  decides  what 
we  must  understand  by  Adam,  and  the  Bible 
alone  must  teach  us  what  intervals  its  authors 
intended  to  interpose  between  Adam  and  Abra- 
ham. I  cannot  repress  the  hope,  however,  awak- 
ened by  the  sanctions  of  my  own  slender  knowl- 
edge of  the  biblical  language,  that  thorough 
and  unprejudiced  Hebrew  scholarshij:)  will  find 
satisfactory  ground  to  accept  Mr.  Crawford's 
theory.  Such  a  result,  whatever  the  opposite 
conclusion  may  signify,  would  greatly  strength- 
en the  claims  of  the  Pentateuch  upon  the  de- 
vout credence  of  intelligent  minds." 

The  following  references  to  the  writings  of 
Josephus  seem  to  support  this  theory.  Refer- 
ring to  the  Flood  he  says :  "  This  calamity  hap- 
pened in  the  six  hundredth  year  of  Noah's 
(jovcrmnent  (age)."  "Enos,  .  .  .  when  he  had 
lived  nine  hundred  and  twelve  years,  deliv- 
ered the  government  to  Cainan,  his  son." 
"  Jared  .  .  .  lived  nine  hundred  and  sixty-two 
years,  and  then  his  son  Enoch  succeeded  him." 
"  Mathusela  .  .  .  had  Lamech  for  his  son,  .  .  . 
to  whom  he  delivered  the  government,  when  he 
had  retained  it  nine  hundred  and  sixty-nine 
years.    Now  Lamech,  when  he  had  governed 


OBJECTIONS   AND   SUGGESTIONS.  309 

seven  hundred  and  seventy-seven  years,  ap- 
pointed Noah,  his  son,  to  be  ruler  of  the  people, 
who  was  born  to  Lamech  wlien  he  was  one  hun- 
dred and  eighty-two  years  old,  and  retained  the 
government  nine  hundred  and  fifty  years."  ^ 

In  view  of  all  these  various  opinions  it  seems 
fairly  reasonable  to  conclude  that  the  Hebrew 
chronology  is  not  yet  definitively  settled,  and 
that  the  shortest  possible  calculation  of  it,  stated 
by  Usher  and  generally  accepted  by  scholars,  is 
probably  incorrect. 

The  results  which  seem  to  be  established  by 
the  researches  in  Egyptology  and  Assyriology 
are  quite  harmonious  with  each  other,  and  if 
Mr.  Crawford's  theory  of  interpretation  of  bib- 
lical chronology  is  accepted,  it  approaches  an 
agreement  with  them.  In  this  historical  period, 
so  lengthened,  there  is  a  larger  and  perhaps  a 
sufficient  opportunity  for  the  variations  of  spe- 
cies required  by  the  Darwinian  theory,  and  thus 
one  of  the  principal  difficulties  of  the  develop- 
ment hypothesis  may  be  removed. 

It  is  singular  that  the  very  important  corrob- 
orative testimony  to  the  truth  of  the  biblical 
history  of  the  Creation  and  the  Deluge  found  in 
the  Assyrian  tablets  should  have  been  used  to 
discredit  the  Hebrew  Scriptures,  and  that,  too, 
sinipJ//  because  of  an  aUeged  discrepancy  in  chronol- 
ogy !  It  might  naturally  be  supposed  that  wholly 
independent  evidence  to  substantiate  the  sacred 

^  Antiqnitiea  of  the  Jews,  Book  I.,  chap,  iii.,  pp.  3,  4. 


310  GENESIS   AND   MODEEN    SCIENCE. 

record  would  be  welcomed.  The  Hebrew  his- 
tory of  these  events  should  not,  however,  be 
considered  false  or  mythical  simply  because  the 
records  of  other  nations  testify  to  the  same 
events.  If  a  deluge  ever  did  happen  in  the  his- 
torical period,  it  is  not  surprising  that  the 
memory  of  it  should  have  been  preserved  by  all 
the  descendants  of  those  who  survived  it,  how- 
ever widely  they  may  afterward  have  been  dis- 
persed. Indeed,  it  would  be  marvelous  if  the 
tradition  had  utterly  died  out,  or  had  been  pre- 
served by  only  one  family  of  those  descendants. 
It  would  have  been  a  forcible  argument  against 
the  universality  of  the  Flood  if  no  people  except 
the  Jews  had  made  any  record  of  it  whatever. 
In  truth,  no  event  in  all  history  has  made  so 
deep  and  so  abiding  an  impression  upon  human 
memory  as  the  universal  Deluge.  Nations  of 
the  highest  civilization  and  culture,  as  well  as 
the  rudest  savage  tribes,  have  commemorated 
the  stupendous  catastrophe.  The  story  varies 
as  to  names  and  places,  and  appears  decked 
in  the  fantastic  robes  of  many  a  mythology  and 
religion;  but  it  is  everywhere  essentially  the 
same,  and — a  most  significant  fact — is  always 
associated  with  the  religions  of  those  peoi)les. 
President  White,  in  his  recent  book,^  referring 
to  the  Assyrian  tablets,  writes :  "  The  eleventh 
of  the  twelve  tablets,  on  which  the  most  im])or- 

'  A  Ilisiorii  of  the  Wdrfdir  of  ISciotce  icifh  TJuoJof/i/ 
in  Christendom,  vol.  i.,  p.  237. 


OBJECTIONS   AND   SUGGESTIONS.  311 

tant  of  these  inscriptions  was  found,  was  almost 
wholly  preserved,  and  it  revealed  in  this  legend, 
dat'uifi  from  a  time  far  earlier  than  that  of  Moses, 
such  features  peculiar  to  the  childhood  of  the 
world  as  the  building  of  the  great  ship  or  ark  to 
escape  the  Flood,  the  careful  calking  of  its 
seams,  the  saving  of  a  man  beloved  of  Heaven, 
his  selecting  and  taking  with  him  into  the  vessel 
animals  of  all  sorts  in  couples,  the  imj^ressive 
final  closing  of  the  door,  the  sending  forth  dif- 
ferent birds  as  the  Flood  abated,  the  offering  of 
sacrifices  when  the  Flood  had  subsided,  the  joy 
of  the  divine  Being  who  had  caused  the  Flood 
as  the  odor  of  the  sacrifice  reached  his  nostrils." 
Theauthorseems  to  considerthat  themerefact 
that  this  legend  is  older  than  the  Mosaic  recoi'd 
is  a  sufiicient  proof  that  the  latter  is  not  true. 
He  plainly  asserts  that  "  a  great  mass  of  ac- 
counts in  Genesis  is  simply  adaptations  of 
earlier  and  especially  Chaldean  myths  and 
legends."  This  sweeping  statement  is  presumpt- 
uous and  inconsequential.  First,  it  is  certainl\' 
true  that  the  Assyrian  record  is  not  older  than 
the  books  of  Moses.  As  has  been  already  shown, 
it  dates  back  only  to  600  b.c,  while  the  date 
of  the  Accadian  original  from  which  the  As- 
syrian e^^ie  was  taken  is  a  mere  matter  of  con- 
jecture. But  even  if  the  Chaldean  legends  are 
older  than  Genesis,  must  the  early  jxiges  of  the 
Bible  for  that  reason  be  degraded  as  false  ?  May 
not  the  Deluge  itself  have  been  an  actual  event 


312  GENESIS   AND   MODERN   SCIENCE. 

in  history,  even  if  the  Chaldeans  and  Hebrews 
both  had  traditions  of  it,  and  is  the  historical 
fact  of  the  Deluge  at  all  affected  by  the  ques- 
tion, which  of  the  two  traditions  is  the  older? 
Surely,  this  unseemly  controversy  is  a  mere 
dispute  about  chronology. 

In  my  judgment  the  whole  field  of  battle  be- 
tween science  and  theology  should  be  changed 
from  geology  to  chronology.  I  say  "battle 
between  science  and  theology,"  for  the  warfare 
has  never  really  been  between  science  and  re- 
ligion, but  only  between  ologies,  profane  and 
sacred,  fallible  and  full  of  human  pride,  in 
which  respects  it  is  difficult  for  the  unprejudiced 
historian  to  decide  which  of  the  two  classes, 
scientific  or  theological,  has  been  the  more  con- 
spicuous. The  time  is  now  favorable  for  such 
study  and  for  a  re-adjustment  of  the  dates  in 
dispute.  The  Egyptian  hieroglyphs  have  been 
preserved  until  the  present  century  for  decipher- 
ment, and  the  cuneiform  inscriptions  of  the  As- 
syrians have  only  recently  been  read.  These 
tell  of  ancient  civilizations  flourishing  in  times 
of  very  remote  antiquity,  while  geological  proofs 
have  accumulated  very  rapidly  of  late,  to  crowd 
back,  and  farther  and  farther  back,  the  traces  of 
human  origins,  even  into  a  time  when  species 
of  animals  existed  which  have  long  since  become 
extinct.  AYith  these  discoveries  have  come  a 
large  tolerance  on  the  part  of  both  scientists 
and  theologians,  a  spirit  of  mutual  concession 


OBJECTIONS  AND   SUGGESTIONS.  313 

and  mutual  respect,  a  diminisliing  fear  of  truth, 
a  less  regard  for  dogma,  a  minimizing  of  creeds 
and  formulas,  and  a  sincere  desire  for  knowl- 
edge, all  of  which  conditions  are  more  hopeful  for 
the  progress  of  true  science  and  of  pure  rehgion 
than  have  been  known  in  any  previous  period 
in  human  history. 

We  will  now  proceed  to  consider  the  other 
branch  of  the  inquiry  already  propounded.  Is 
it  possible  and  probable  that  too  long  a  time 
has  heretofore  been  allotted  to  the  geological 
periods  ? 

There  is  a  tendency  of  late  to  shorten  the 
length  of  geological  time.  "  Sir  Charles  Lyell, 
in  his  Principles  of  Geohcpj  (1830),  wrote  of  the 
rocks  which  contain  the  earliest  forms  of  life  as 
being  at  least  500,000,000  or  600,000,000  years 
old.  Charles  Darwin,  in  his  first  edition  of 
Origin  of  Species,  reckoned  300,062,100  years  as 
the  time  required  for  the  erosion  of  the  Wealden 
rocks;  but,  to  be  safe,  he  thought  he  might 
allow  a  more  rapid  rate,  which  would  reduce  the 
number  of  years  to  150,000,000  or  100,000,000 
years.  He  withdrew  this  statement  in  the  later 
editions.  Professor  Young  thinks  that  30,000,- 
000  years  is  as  long  a  time  as  should  be  reck- 
oned for  the  existence  of  life  upon  the  earth. 
Sir  William  Thomson  and  Professor  Xewcomb 
are  inclined  to  limit  geological  time  to  12,000,000 
or  15,000,000  years.  Desor,  the  French  glacial- 
ist,  estimated  that  the  Niagara  Eiver  must  have 


314  GENESIS   AND    MODERN    SCIENCE. 

been  3,500,000  years  in  wearing  the  gorge  Ijack 
from  Queenstown  to  the  present  cataract.  Lyell 
was  willing  to  divide  this  by  100  and  allow  35,- 
000 ;  and  now  Professor  X.  S.  Shaler  (Harvard), 
in  the  Stonj  of  our  Continent,  says  that  it  has 
been  estimated  that  only  about  7,000  years  ago 
the  cataract  was  at  tlie  mouth  of  the  gorge  at 
Queenstown." 

The  theory  of  sedimentation,  which  has  pre- 
vailed from  the  very  beginning  of  the  science  of 
geology  to  the  present  time,  is  that  which  was 
propounded  by  Hutton  in  1788.  It  doubtless 
needs,  in  the  development  of  the  science,  to  be 
reconsidered  and  perhaps  reconstracted.  If  the 
theory  advanced  by  Croll  and  other  mathema- 
ticians, which  has  been  fully  stated  in  the  earlier 
pages  of  this  book,  be  true,  that  a  change  in  the 
center  of  gravity  of  the  earth  would  cause  a 
re-adjustment  of  the  ocean  in  relation  to  that 
new  center,  or,  in  other  words,  a  change  in  the 
sea-level  in  the  two  hemispheres,  it  is  evident 
that  a  stratum  could  have  Vjeen  exposed  by  tlie 
draining  of  the  sea  from  off  its  old  Ijed,  as  well 
as  by  the  bodily  ujjheaval  of  the  ocean-bed 
above  the  sea-level.  If  the  larger  estimates  of 
the  change  of  sea-level  are  taken,  rather  than 
those  of  Croll,  we  have  a  lowering  of  the  sea  to 
a  distance  of  400  feet  below  its  fonner  level, 
and  such  a  flowing  away  of  the  sea  would  leave 
bare  large  tracts  of  the  sea-bottom  to  a  consid- 
^  Professor  G.  Frederick  Wright,  Oberlin. 


ORJECTIOXS   AND    SUGGESTIONS.  315 

erable  distance  along  and  from  the  former  shore. 
Marine  shells  and  the  invertebrate  animals  dwell- 
ing on  such  drained  area  would  remain  therein 
and  fossilize. 

Accompanying  this  lowering  of  the  sea-level 
(if  the  change  were  a  sudden  one,  as  Whewell 
and  philosophers  of  his  school  believe)  there 
would  have  been  terrific  currents  formed,  as  the 
waters  rushed  along  the  shores  of  the  continents 
to  find  their  new  place,  and  these  rapid  and  vio- 
lent movements  of  water  would  erode  the  shores 
and  bear  along  the  soil,  gravel,  and  stones,  and 
spread  them  upon  the  floor  of  the  sea.  Such 
currents,  especially  if  the  waters  were  laden 
with  this  debris  of  the  continents,  would  cause 
instant  death  to  fishes  involved  in  these  torrents 
along  shore,  and  tlieii*  bodies  would  sink  with 
the  soils  thus  torn  from  the  land,  and,  mingling 
with  them,  would  form  a  new  stratum,  abound- 
ing in  fish  fossils,  as  does  the  Devonian. 

But  such  a  change  of  sea-level  would  have  the 
effect  of  increasing  the  velocity  of  the  rivers  of 
the  continents  flowing  into  theocean.  Alowering 
of  the  Avater-level  at  the  mouth  of  these  rivers 
must — at  least  in  the  case  of  some  of  them — 
have  caused  very  rapid  currents,  which  would 
tear  away  their  banks  and  their  beds,  and  bring 
down  not  only  new  material  to  spread  upon  the 
sea-bottom,  but  also  trees  and  land-plants  which 
grew  along  their  banks.  These  j^lants  and  trees, 
l)orne  out  to  sea,  would  become  involved  in  the 


/ 


316  GENESIS   AND   MODEKN   SCIENCE. 

soil-laden  waters  and  sink  with  the  sediment  in 
some  cases.  This  would  account  for  the  first 
appearance  of  trees  and  plants  in  the  Devonian 
strata,  as  already  described. 

In  their  lithological  character  the  Devonian 
strata  are  sandstones.  This  is  a  significant  fact, 
as  showing  their  origin.  Silt  and  ooze  would 
form  a  compact  body  or  stone,  and  the  sediment 
of  the  sea  is  of  that  nature.  Sandstone  could 
not  have  been  the  sediment  of  a  quiet  sea.  And 
the  sandstone  is  of  various  degrees  of  fineness, 
some  fine,  some  coarse,  some  a  conglomerate, 
pebbly  mass  such  as  would  be  formed  of  the 
debris  of  a  continent,  if  only  we  could  have  it 
graded  and  sorted.  This  variety  of  structure, 
however,  does  not  necessarily  show  a  difference 
in  the  age  of  the  deposits,  and  it  is  also  to  be  re- 
marked that  great  diversity  in  the  color  or  sub- 
stance of  such  deposits  might  be  easily  explained 
by  local  causes.  Salter  ^  has  argued  the  contem- 
poraneity of  the  various  sandstones,^  and  such 
a  theory  as  I  have  suggested  would  well  support 
his  conclusions. 

In  the  EncyclopcBdiaBritannica  {eighth,  edition) 
is  found  a  theory  which  admirably  fits  the  hy- 
pothesis above  set  forth,  and  shows  how  the 

^  Dawson  says  that  Salter  has  hardly  an  equal  as  a 
paleontologist  {The  Story  of  the  Earth  and  Man, 
p.  155). 

^  Chambers's  Encyclopedia,  article  "Old  Red  Sand- 
stone." 


OBJECTIONS   AND   SUGGESTIONS.  317 

different  kinds  of  sandstone  may  have  been  con- 
temporaneously deposited  in  the  sea.  I  will 
quote  the  paragraph  from  this  standard  author- 
ity :  "  Babbage  supposes  the  case  of  a  river,  the 
mouth  of  which  is  100  feet  deep,  delivering  four 
varieties  of  fine  detritus  into  a  sea  which  has  a 
uidform  depth  of  1,000  feet  over  a  great  extent, 
which  sea  is  traversed  by  one  of  the  great  ocean- 
currents,  moving  with  a  certain  given  velocity. 
He  takes  for  granted  that  the  four  varieties  of 
detritus  are  such  as,  from  their  size,  shape,  and 
specific  gravity,  would  fall  through  still  water, 
the  first  10  feet  per  hour,  the  second  8  feet,  the 
third  5  feet,  and  the  fourth  4  feet.  The  com- 
bined effect  of  the  downward  motion  of  the 
detritus  and  the  onward  motion  of  the  water 
would  then  bring  the  first  variety  to  the  bottom 
of  the  sea  at  a  distance  of  180  miles  from  the 
river's  mouth  and  strew  it  over  a  sj)ace  20  miles 
long;  the  second  variety  would  only  begin  to 
reach  the  bottom  225  miles  from  the  river's 
mouth  and  would  be  spread  over  25  miles,  and 
so  on,  as  shown  in  the  following  table: 


No. 

Velocity  of  fall 
per  hour. 

Nearest  distance 

of  deposit 

from  river's 

nioutb. 

Lengtli  of 
deposit. 

Greatest  distance 

fit  deposit 

from  river's 

mouth. 

1 

10  feet 

ISO  miles 

20  miles 

200  miles 

2 

8     " 

225      " 

25      " 

250      " 

3 

5     " 

360      " 

40      " 

400      " 

4 

4     " 

450      " 

50      " 

500      " 

We  should  thus  have,  proceeding  from  the 
same  river  and  poured  into  the  sea,  either  si- 


318  GENESIS   AND   MODEEN   SCIENCE. 

miiltaneously  or  at  different  times,  four  different 
and  widely  separated  patches  of  mud  and  clay 
formed  on  the  sea-bottom." 

Dr.  Win  slow,  who  fully  believes  that  the  earth, 
by  reason  of  the  changes  of  its  center  of  grav- 
ity, "violently  careened  in  different  directions 
toward  the  sun,"  says  that  "  the  equipoise  of  the 
world  w^ould  be  disturbed ;  the  inclination  of  its 
axis  to  the  plane  of  its  orbit  would  be  modified ; 
the  oceans  would  instantly  change  their  beds, 
leaving  myriads  of  aquatic  animals  on  dry  land, 
or  embedded  in  the  drifting  sediments,  and  ex- 
posing water-lines  on  the  margin  of  rivers,  lakes, 
hills,  and  islands.  Terrestrial  animals  would  be 
suddenly  transferred,  perhaps  swept  by  floods 
from  temperate  to  frigid  regions.  New  expos- 
ures to  the  solar  rays  would  supervene,  pro- 
foundly affecting  the  isotherms,  so  that  the 
glaciers  of  the  pole  would  be  dislodged  and 
set  in  motion  over  broad  regions.  .  .  .  Ac- 
cording to  the  extent  and  suddenness  of  these 
changes  of  equipoise  would  be  the  movements  of 
the  seas,  the  exposure  of  reefs  and  shallows,  and 
the  overwhelming  of  old  coasts.  The  climate 
everywhere  would  be  changed,  and  the  destruc- 
tion of  entire  genera  of  plants  and  animals  would 
ensue,  or  such  profound  alteration  of  terrestrial 
forces  be  effected  that  foi-mer  ranges  of  distribu- 
tion would  be  an  nihilated  and  the  old  forms  would 
take  on  new  expressions  of  development."  ^ 
1  The  Cooling  Globe,  pp.  23,  26,  38. 


OBJECTIONS   AND    SUGGESTIONS.  319 

In  the  deltas  or  estuaries  of  the  continental 
rivers,  after  such  change  in  level,  may  have  been 
gathered  vast  quantities  of  trees  and  plants, 
borne  down  by  the  swift  currents  and  there 
stranded,  to  rot  under  water,  or  gradually  to 
form  islets  or  marshy  land,  as  the  detritus  of 
the  river  massed  itself  around  them,  sufiicient 
to  become  the  place  of  new  and  luxurious  vege- 
tation. Occasional  changes  of  sea-level,  pro- 
duced by  new  changes  in  the  earth's  center  of 
gravity  or  otherwise,  may  have  spread  over  these 
remnants  of  vegetation  layers  of  sand  and  grit, 
upon  which  new  vegetation  afterward  thrived ; 
and  so  from  time  to  time  tliese  changes  may  have 
continued  and  all  the  phenomena  of  the  coal- 
bearing  measures  be  realized. 

I  do  not  mean  to  assert  that  the  various  os- 
cillations of  the  sea-level  which  geology  reveals 
were  all  caused  by  changes  in  the  center  of 
gravity  of  the  earth  and  by  nothing  else.  It  is 
doubtless  true  that  every  considerable  change 
in  the  earth's  crust  did  produce  a  corresponding 
change  in  the  center  of  gravity,  but  such  cause 
concurred  with  other  various  causes.  In  the 
earliest  stages  of  the  progress  of  the  earth  its 
crust  was  more  plastic,  being  thinner  and  hotter, 
and  at  the  same  time  the  internal  forces  were 
more  intense  than  in  later  times.  For  both  these 
reasons  the  earlier  movements  of  the  earth's 
crust  must  have  been  more  extensive,  more  vio- 
lent,  and  more  frequent  than  they  afterward 


320  GENESIS   AND   MODERN   SCIENCE. 

were.  So,  too,  the  disintegration  of  rocks,  as 
well  as  the  formation  of  the  sedimentary  rocks, 
must  have  proceeded  more  rapidly  than  in  sub- 
sequent periods. 

Thus  at  the  very  beginning  of  sedimentation 
everything  was  favorable  for  comparatively 
rapid  deposits.  As  the  nebulous  mass  "  cooled, 
a  temperature  would  in  time  be  reached  at  which 
chemical  combination  became  possible ;  the  oxy- 
gen would  combine  with  silicon  to  form  silicic 
acid,  which  would  unite  with  the  various  bases 
to  form  the  silicates  of  which  the  molten  globe 
must  have  consisted.  Surrounding  this  primi- 
tive globe  we  should  expect  that  there  would  be 
an  atmosphere  containing  immense  quantities 
of  aqueous  vapor  and  charged  with  acid  gases 
formed  by  the  union  of  sulphur,  carbon,  chlorine, 
and  nitrogen  Avith  oxygen.  As  cooling  pro- 
ceeded a  condensation  of  these  acid  gases  and 
aqueous  vapor  would  take  place,  flooding  the 
oi'iginal  surface  of  the  earth  with  a  highly  heated 
acid  solution,  which  would  react  upon  the  sili- 
cates. Gradually  the  acids,  by  combination  with 
bases,  would  be  largely  removed  from  the  waters, 
and  the  atmosphere  would  also  in  a  similar  way 
be  slowly  purified  of  the  acid  vapors  it  originally 
contained."^  Speaking  of  the  clouds  of  "the 
second  day,"  Winchell  says :  "  As  these  clouds 
held  all  the  water  belonging  to  our  planet,  they 
poured  forth  the  most  abundant  rains,  which  by 

^  The  EartJi's  History^  Roberts,  p.  19. 


\ 


THE    GEOLOGICAL    GLOGK. 

FROM  HUTCHINSON'S  AUTOBIOQRAPHV   OF   THE   EARTH. 


The  thickness  of  the  Archasan  rocks  is  unknown,  but  the  rela- 
tive thicknesses  of  the  other  groups  are  roughly  indicated  by  the 
length  of  the  arc  devoted  to  each.  The  shaded  portions  indicate 
"  breaks  '    in  the  record. 


OBJECTIONS   AND    SUGGESTIONS.  321 

beating  upon  the  rocky  surface  and  by  the  wear 
of  torrents  produced  vast  amounts  of  sediment, 
which  were  spread  over  the  bottom  of  the  ac- 
cumuhited  ocean.  Chemical  reactions  also  took 
place  in  these  waters,  which  threw  down  sheets 
of  sediments,  which  mingled  with  those  of  me- 
chanical origin.  These  sediments  were  the  ma- 
terial from  w^hicli  the  oldest  beds  of  rock  were 
formed." 

By  my  theory,  however,  it  is  of  no  importance 
how  long  a  time  was  occupied  in  the  formation 
of  the  Paleozoic  rocks.  I  will,  therefore,  confine 
the  investigation  to  the  time  required  for  the 
formation  of  the  Secondary  and  later  strata. 

"  Geological  time  has  been  marked  off  into 
ages,  periods,  and  epochs  by  physical  revolutions. 
These  were  universal  for  the  ages,  but  more  local 
for  the  subordinate  divisions  of  time.  The  com- 
mencement of  every  interval  of  time  was  char- 
acterized, to  some  extent,  by  disruption,  up- 
heavals, violence,  emission  of  heat  and  vapors 
from  beneath  the  crust,  violent  dashing  of  waters 
against  coast  barriers,  destructive  ocean  tides 
and  streams,  and  the  more  or  less  complete 
extinction  of  living  beings.  Simultaneously, 
therefore,  with  the  disappearance  of  a  fauna 
from  the  earth  the  ocean's  bottom  was  over- 
strewn  with  the  coarse  debris  of  a  geological 
revolution.     As  the  shaken  crust  subsided  to  a 

1  Beconciliafion  of  Science  and  Religion,  Winchell, 
p.  359. 


322  GENESIS   AND   MODERN   SCIENCE. 

more  quiet  position,  only  the  finer  sediments 
were  transported  to  great  distances  from  the 
shores. 

"  Lastly,  when  peace  and  stability  were  again 
restored,  the  vast  expanse  of  the  ocean,  as  it 
floated  over  the  area  of  North  America,  was  a 
calm  and  clear  lagoon,  in  which  lived  and  hi- 
bored  those  lime-loving  animals  which  incase 
themselves  in  shells,  found  coral  structures,  and 
eliminate  from  the  water  the  materials  of  lime- 
stone strata.  There  is,  consequently,  for  each 
period  of  the  world's  history  a  definite  succession 
of  strata  as  to  kind.  These  may  be  designated 
coarse-fragmental,  fiue-fragmental,  and  calcare- 
ous. The  coarse-fragmental  we  style  conglom- 
erates, and  their  position  is  at  the  bottom  of  a 
group  of  strata.  The  fine-fragmental  vary  from 
sandstones  to  shales,  and  they  rest  upon  the 
conglomerates.  The  calcareous  constitute  the 
limestones,  which  answ^er  to  the  culmination  of 
a  geological  interval  and  rest  near  the  top  of  the 
group.  The  life  of  each  interval  attained  its 
full  expansion  during  the  Calcareous  epoch."  ^ 

"  At  some  epochs,  and  probably  during  whole 
periods  and  ages,  the  energy  of  the  forces  of 
deposition  must  have  been  more  rapid  than  at 
other  epochs  and  during  other  intervals  of  time. 
.  .  .  Fragmental  sediments  accumulate  more 
rapidly  than  calcareous,  and  the  ratio  of  the  two 
which  is  generally  adopted  regards  1  foot  of 
1  Sketches  of  Creation,  Winchell,  p.  133. 


OBJECTIONS   AND   SUGGESTIONS.  323 

limestone  equivalent  to  5  feet  of  sandstones  and 
shales."  ^ 

In  a  table  of  maximum  thicknesses  of  the 
strata,  as  estimated  by  Winchell,2  the  total  thick- 
ness of  the  Mesozoic  and  Tertiary  rocks  is  stated 
as  follows : 


Trlassie,        11,300  feet  of  fragmental,  4,500  feet  of  limestones 

Jurassic,         4,000         "  "  i  OOO         "  " 

Cretaceous,    6,400         "  "  'lOO         "  " 

Tertiary,       22,470         "  "  100         "  " 


44,170         "  "  5,700         "  " 

Dana  states  ^  that  the  Triassic  and  Jurassic 
periods  are  evidenced  in  North  America  mainly 
by  sandstones  and  conglomerates,  but  include 
some  considerable  beds  of  shale,  and  in  a  few 
places  impure  limestones.  The  pebbles  and 
sands  of  the  beds  were  derived  principally  from 
metamorphic  rocks  alongside  of  the  regions  in 
which  they  lie,  and  from  some  of  the  coarser 
layers  large  stones  of  granite,  gneiss,  and  mica- 
schist  may  be  taken.  In  Europe  the  Triassic 
rocks  consist  of  shell-limestone,  thick,  reddish 
sandstone,  and  marlites.  The  Jurassic  rocks 
are  limestone,  some  clay  and  sand.  In  America 
the  Triassico-Jurassic  sandstones  and  shales  of 
the  Atlantic  border  regions  are  sedimentary 
beds  covering  long,  narrow  ranges  of  country. 

1  World  Life,  WincheU,  p.  356. 

2  Ibid,  p.  363. 

^  Tezf-hooJc  of  Geology,  p,  159. 


32-4:  GENESIS   AND   MODEEN   SCIENCE. 

The  water  was  brackish  or  fresh,  and  the  areas 
were  estuaries  or  deep  bays,  runiiiDg  far  inland. 
In  Europe  the  nature  of  the  Triassic  beds  shows 
that  there  were  large,  shallow,  interior  seas  on 
the  eastern  side  of  the  Atlantic.  The  Jurassic 
formations  in  Europe  are  oceanic. 

"  In  nearly  all  parts  of  the  world  the  Permian 
presents  thick  beds  of  red  sandstones  and  con- 
glomerates as  marked  ingredients.  These,  as 
we  have  already  seen,  are  indications  of  rapid 
deposition  accompanying  changes  of  level."  ^ 

The  Triassic,  "  where  best  developed,  gives  us 
the  usual  threefold  series,  conglomerates  and 
sandstones  below,  a  shelly  limestone  in  the 
middle,  and  sandstone  and  marls  above."  - 

Dana  3  says  of  the  Tertiary  rocks  that  they 
"  are  generally  but  little  consolidated ;  they  con- 
sist mostly  of  compacted  sand,  pebbles,  clay, 
earth  that  Avas  once  the  mud  of  the  sea-bottom 
or  of  estuaries,  mixed  often  with  shells,  or  are 
such  kinds  of  deposits  as  now  form  along  sea- 
shores and  in  shallow  bays  and  estuaries,  or  in 
shallow  waters  off  a  coast.  There  are  also  lime- 
stones made  of  shells." 

Not  only  does  the  lithology  of  these  strata 
show  their  comparatively  rapid  rate  of  forma- 
tion, but  their  fossil  contents  prove  it  conclu- 
sively.    The  animals  whose  remains  have  been 

^  The  Story  of  the  Earth  and  Man,  Dawson,  p,  166. 

2  Ihid,  p.  188. 

^  Text-book  of  GeoJofjfj,  p.  205. 


OBJECTIONS   AND    SUGGESTIONS.  325 

thus  preserved  did  not  die  by  the  slow  process 
of  natural  extinction,  but  were  suddenly  over- 
whelmed by  catastrophe  and  died  by  violence. 
AVe  are  not  to  conceive  of  their  gradual  death 
and  their  sinking  to  the  ocean-bottom,  there  to 
be  slowly  covered  by  a  fine  silt,  almost  imper- 
ceptibly forming  as  a  sediment.  On  the  con- 
trary, they  perished  suddenly,  in  vast  numbers, 
and  were  almost  instantly  buried  in  quick-form- 
ing strata  torn  from  the  adjacent  shores  by 
swift  and  powerful  currents. 

Hugh  Miller  speaks  of  the  "  amazing  aljun- 
dance  "  with  which  the  ganoid  fishes  suddenly 
appear  in  the  Old  Red  Sandstone  (or  Devonian).^ 
It  is  a  pertinent  inquiry.  Why  should  they  have 
been  ushered  in  in  so  great  numbers  if  these 
strata  were  gradually  formed  sediments?  Le 
Conte  2  says :  "  At  a  certain  time  fishes  seem  sud- 
denly to  appear,  as  if  they  came  without  progeni- 
tors." He  also  says,  referring  to  Tertiary  mam- 
mals :  "  The  suddenness  of  their  appearance  is 
very  remarkable.  In  the  very  lowest  Tertiary, 
without  warning  and  without  apparent  progen- 
itors, true  mammals  appear  in  great  numbers, 
in  considerable  diversity,  and  even  of  the  highest 
ovder— Primates,  or  the  monkey  tribe.  Now  in 
Europe,  where  there  is  a  decided  break  and  a 
lost  interval,  this  is  not  so  sm-prising;  but  even 
in  America,  where  the  Laramie  passes  without 

1  TJw  Testimouii  of  the  Rods,  p.  93. 

2  Compend  of  Oeotogy,  p.  282. 


326  GENESIS   AND   MODEllN    SCIENCE. 

break  into  the  Tertiary,  the  same  is  true.  At  a 
certain  level  the  great  dinosaurs  disappear  and 
the  mammals  take  their  place.  A  new  dynasty 
and  a  new  age  in  history  commence.  It  is  im- 
possible to  account  for  this  by  natural  causes, 
unless  we  admit  times  of  rapid  progress. ^^'^ 

Lyell^  speaks  of  the  sudden  destruction  of 
saurian s,  etc. :  "  It  has  been  remarked,  and  truly, 
that  many  of  the  fish  and  saurians  found  fossil 
in  the  Lias  must  have  met  with  sudden  death 
and  immediate  burial,  and  that  the  destructive 
operation,  whatever  may  have  been  its  nature, 
was  often  repeated. 

"  '  Sometimes,'  says  Dr.  Buckland, '  scarcely  a 
single  bone  or  scale  has  been  removed  from  the 
place  it  occupied  during  life,  which  could  not 
have  happened  had  the  uncovered  bodies  of 
these  saurians  been  left,  even  for  a  few  hours, 
exposed  to  putrefaction  and  to  the  attacks  of 
fishes  and  other  smaller  animals  at  the  bottom 
of  the  sea '  {Bridgetvater  Treatise,  p.  125).  Not 
only  are  the  skeletons  of  the  Iclitlniosauri  en- 
tire, but  sometimes  the  contents  of  their  stom- 
achs still  remain  between  their  ribs,  so  that  we 
can  discover  the  particular  species  of  fisli  on 
which  they  lived." 

The  fact  that  the  Siberian  mammoths,  already 
referred  to,  were  found  with  the  flesh  moi-e  or 
less  preserved — one  specimen  having  a  perfect 

1  Compend  of  Geologij,  p.  855. 

2  Elements  of  Gcolo(jy,  p.  230. 


OBJECTIOXS   AND    SUGGESTIONS.  327 

eye-bulb  left,  and  another  having  in  its  veins  a 
dry  red  powder  as  of  dried,  coagulated  blood — 
proves  that  these  animals  were  suddenh^  over- 
taken by  some  catastrophe,  and  ere  the  flesh 
could  decay  the  ice  embedded  the  bodies  as  they 
were  found.  The  changes  of  climate  must, 
therefore,  at  the  last  have  been  quite  sudden. 
"  From  the  perfect  preservation  of  these  fossil 
remains, — from  the  fact  that  they  are  found  in 
their  relative  position,  bone  to  bone,  and,  in 
some  instances,  with  their  hair,  skin,  and  flesh 
undecayed, — it  is  obvious  the  animals  must 
have  perished  by  a  catastrophe  which  over- 
whelmed them  suddenly,  and  was  instantane- 
ously followed  by  a  freezing  of  the  overwhelm- 
ing waters."  ^ 

In  "  caves  in  Germany,  England,  and  France 
great  quantities  of  bones  are  found  in  such  a 
state  of  preservation  and  under  such  circum- 
stances as  to  show  that  the  animals  whose  bones 
are  found  were  in  the  habit  of  frequenting  these 
caves,  and  perished  in  them  suddenly,  as  their 
remains  are  found  mixed  with  sand  and  gravel, 
but  not  water-worn.  Of  these  bones  the  great 
majority  are  those  of  the  hyena.  Hence  these 
dens,  especialh^  in  England,  are  called  hyena 
dens.  In  them  are  also  found  the  bones  of  other 
animals  gnawed  by  the  hyenas," - 

^  The  Mosaic  History  of  the  Creation  of  the  World, 
Wood,  p.  70, 
2  Ibid.,  p.  71. 


328  GENESIS   AND   MODERN    SCIENCE. 

Fossil  fislies  "are  found  in  all  f)0ssible  posi- 
tions and  in  every  degree  of  preservation.  Some 
are  contorted  and  crushed,  indicating  sudden 
violence.  Others  are  inhumed  in  the  very  act 
of  swallowing  their  prey,  and  in  every  easy  and 
natural  position,  indicating  that  they  expired 
without  violence.  Some  of  those  which  are  thus 
quietly  buried  are  of  the  most  active  species,  thus 
proving  the  suddenness  of  the  catastrophe."  ^ 

Agassiz,  in  his  book  on  Glaciers,  speaks  of 
the  great  number  of  animals  which  perished 
from  cold.  The  elephant  and  rhinoceros  per- 
ished by  thousands  in  the  bosom  of  their  graz- 
ing-grounds,  which  were  suddenly  transformed 
into  fields  of  ice  and  snow. 

That  great  geological  movements  or  cata- 
clysms have  taken  place  within  the  human 
period  cannot  be  controverted ;  for  the  Flood, 
even  if  only  local  in  extent,  must  have  covered 
a  vast  region,  and  it  is  recognized  by  all  geolo- 
gists as  the  result  of  changes  in  the  earth's  crust ; 
moreover,  the  evidence  shows  conclusively  that 
the  glacial  movements  occurred  since  mankind 
appeared. 

There  are  evidences  in  the  Bible  of  changes 
which  have  occurred  in  the  apparent  position 
of  the  sun,  but  which  must  have  been  actual 
changes  of  the  earth's  position  in  relation  to  the 
sun.  I  refer  to  Joshua  x.  12-14  and  to  Isaiali 
xxxviii.  7,  8.     But  as  the  phenomena  there  men- 

^  The  Mosaic  Uistorij  of  the  Creation  of  the  World, 
Wood,  p.  335. 


OBJECTIONS   AND   SUGGESTIONS.  329 

tioned  seem  to  have  been  merely  transient,  and 
were  followed  by  no  permanent  changes  in 
climate  or  in  other  respects,  I  do  not  think 
that  they  are  to  be  accounted  for  by  any 
reference  to  changes  in  the  earth's  center  of 
gravity. 

"  In  various  ancient  authors  we  find  allusions 
both  to  an  extremely  ancient  displacement  of 
the  sky  and  to  its  supposed  original  state.  -None 
of  these  allusions  have  ever  been  explained  by 
writers  on  the  subject.  One  of  them  occurs  in 
Plato's  Tinucas,  where,  in  language  ascribed  to 
an  Egyptian  priest  of  Solon's  time,  '  a  declina- 
tion of  the  bodies  revolving  round  the  earth '  is 
spoken  of,  and  this  declination  is  offered  as  the 
true  explanation  of  the  partial  destruction  of  the 
world  commemorated  by  the  myth  of  Phaethon, 
As  this  destruction  was  by  fire,  there  would  at 
first  sight  seem  to  be  no  connection  between  it 
and  the  destruction  at  the  time  of  the  Deluge; 
nor  is  there  in  the  context  anything  to  suggest 
such  a  connection.  Fortunately,  however,  we 
have  in  Hyginus  a  fuller  version  of  the  myth, 
from  which  it  appears  that  the  Greeks  supposed 
Deucalion's  universal  Flood  to  have  been  prov- 
identially sent  to  extinguish  the  fearful  con- 
flagration which  Phaethon's  unskillful  driving 
of  the  sun  had  occasioned.  This  makes  the 
connection  clear  and  direct.  The  Flood  and  the 
'declination  of  the  heavenly  bodies  revolving 
round  the  earth '  are  at  once  brought  into  a  true 
historic  relation. 


330  GENESIS   AND   MODERN    SCIENCE. 

"  In  like  manner,  in  the  Bundahish,  in  the  first 
five  chapters,  and  in  Zad  Sparani's  paraphrase 
of  the  same,  it  is  stated  that  during  the  first 
three  thousand  years,  before  the  incoming  of 
the  Evil  One,  'the  sun,  nioon,  and  stars  stood 
still,'  but  as  soon  as  the  Destroyer  of  the  good 
creation  came,  he  assaulted  and  deranged  the 
sky  as  well  as  the  earth  and  sea.  And,  remark- 
ably enough,  it  is  stated  that  as  a  result  of  this 
assault  the  Evil  One  mastered  as  much  as  '  one- 
third  of  the  sky '  and  overspread  it  with  dark- 
ness. Moreover,  in  the  thirtieth  chapter,  in 
giving  a  prophetic  account  of  the  final  restora- 
tion of  the  material  world  to  its  primeval  state, 
there  seems  to  be  an  allusion,  in  verse  32,  to  a 
necessary  resetting  or  re-adjustment  of  the  celes- 
tial vault  by  the  hand  of  its  Creator."  ^ 

The  Danish  geologist,  Frederik  Klee  {Le  De- 
lufje,  French  edition,  Paris,  18-4-7,  p.  307),  writes : 
"  There  is  the  same  probability  that  the  Chid- 
deans  have  had  the  idea  of  a  destruction  and  of 
a  renewal  of  the  world,  that  is  to  say,  of  the 
surface  of  our  globe,  and,  conjointly  with  this 
destruction,  of  a  displacement  of  the  heavenly 
bodies.     Various  inscriptions  in  the  Egyptian 

'  Pdradise  Found,  p,  195.  Compare  Milton's  Fam^ 
dise  Lost,  Book  X.,  lines  G68-671 : 

''  Some  say  he  bid  his  angels  turn  askance 
The  poles  of  earth,  twice  ten  degrees  and  more, 
From  the  sun's  axle ;  tliey  with  labour  push'd 
Oblique  the  centric  globe." 


OBJECTIONS   AND   SUGGESTIONS.  331 

temples  and  some  hierog-lypliies  appear  to  be 
attempts  to  represent  distinctly  the  catastrophe 
of  the  Deluge  and  the  change  which  at  that  time 
was  wrought  in  the  ancient  firmament." 

As  to  such  cosmological  traditions  Lyell  says : 
"  We  can  by  no  means  look  upon  them  as  a  pure 
effort  of  the  unassisted  imagination,  or  believe 
them  to  have  been  composed  without  regard  to 
opinions  and  theories  founded  in  the  observa- 
tion of  nature."  ^ 

It  may  be  fairly  claimed,  from  this  hasty  re- 
view of  the  present  state  of  chronological  knowl- 
edge, and  from  the  consideration  of  the  actual 
structures  and  fossil  contents  of  the  sedimentary 
rocks  and  beds,  that  current  theories  as  to  time 
must  be  considerably  modified.  There  are  abun- 
dant reasons  to  assail  the  position  of  the  uni- 
formitarians,  whose  interpretation  of  geologic 
time  is  hampered  by  the  theory  that  all  changes 
of  elevation,  etc.,  are  to  be  measured  by  the  rate 
at  which  similar  but  minor  changes  are  effected 
at  the  present  day.- 

I  have  endeavored  to  suggest  modes  of  strat- 
ification which  would  be  more  rapid  than  those 
now  in  progress,  and  which  would  account  for 
the  formation  of  the  sedimentarv  rocks  in  a 
much  shorter  period  of  time  than  iias  generally 

^Paradise  Found,  p.  201,  quoting  Lyell's  Elements 
oj  heoJixjii,  vol.  i.,  p.  8. 

-  Controverted  Questions  ofGeohH/,/,Jo»ei>h  Prestwich 
(lS9o),  pp.  1-18. 


332  GENESIS   AND    MODEllN    SCIENCE. 

been  estimated.  Changes  in  the  distribution  of 
the  earth's  crust  have,  as  we  have  seen,  caused 
a  redistribution  of  tlie  waters  of  the  sea;  and 
this  vast  shifting  weight,  taken  from  one  pohir 
hemisphere  to  the  other,  laas,  in  the  early  history 
of  our  globe,  made  it  sway  to  and  fro  in  its  equi- 
poise, though  in  more  recent  times  the  earth's 
crust,  by  its  continued  refrigeration  and  con- 
sequent thickening,  has  become  comparatively 
stable  and  fixed,  so  as  not  to  change  the  direc- 
tion of  the  earth's  poles  within  historical  j)eriods, 
except  at  tlie  time  of  the  Deluge.^ 

In  the  foregoing  pages  I  have  sought  to  solve 
perplexing  questions  b)^  construing  together  the 
natural  and  supernatural  evidences  of  the  Crea- 
tion and  the  development  of  the  earth.  I  have 
endeavored  to  interpret  God's  word  by  God's 
works.  If  we  had  perfect  knowledge  of  both  we 
should  find  no  discrepancies,  but  only  perfect 
harmony,  between  them.     All  physical  science 

'  "  Some  evidence  lias  recently  been  addneed  that 
some  very  slight  changes  in  latitude  are  going  on  at 
the  observatories  of  Dorpat  and  Greenwich ;  but,  if 
confirmod,  these  can  only  be  of  very  minute  amount. 
(I rising  from  sliglif  chunges  in  the  position  of  the  earflt's 
center  of  gravity,  owing  to  j)artial  elevations  and  depres- 
sions. The  latest  researches  seem  to  show  that  these 
slight  variations  in  latitude  do  not  exceed  2"  or  3", 
and  are  periodical,  with  a  period  of  no  longer  than 
three  hundred  to  three  hundred  and  ten  days"  {TTu- 
man  Origins,  1892,  p.  aOO). 


OBJECTIONS   AND   SUGGESTIONS.  333 

has  not  yet  been  perfect]}-  aseertained.     Kew 
discoveries  await  us,  as  grand,   doubtless,   as 
those  ah-eady  made,  and  perhaps  even   more 
grand ;  and  along  with  this  enlargement  of  scien- 
tific knowledge  will  also  come  a  larger  under- 
standing of  the  Christian  8criptures,\vhich  are 
studied  in  these  latter  days  by  more  scholars, 
with  more  enthusiasm,  and  with  more  loving 
faith  than  ever  before  in  the  history  of  the 
world.     "The  pretense   that   the   Bible  must 
be  interpreted  grammatically  and  Hebraically, 
without  scientific  aids,  is  an  implicit  denial  of 
its  divine  inspiration,  and  is  one  of  those  self- 
destructive  claims  which  a  blind  faith  is  ever 
setting  up  against  the  demands  of  common  sense. 
If  the  Bil)le  is  a  purely  human  production,  then 
we  must  seek  its  meaning  by  the  literal  inter- 
pretation of  its  language.     We  have  no  right  to 
seek  for  anything  beyond  that  which  is  actually 
expressed.     If  the  Bible  is  the  expression  of  an 
infinite  mind  through  finite,  falhble,  and  often 
unconscious  human  agents,  it  is  certain  that  the 
literal  phrase  can  seldom  rise  to  the  full  idea 
which  it  adumbrates.     There  is  always  some- 
thing beyond,  an  infinite  something  beyond, 
which  the  langange  but  faintly  shadoNvs  forth' 
or  fails  totally  to  reach.   This  something  beyond,' 
this  test  and  prerogative  of  inspiration,  is  the 
realm  of  universal  and  eternal  truth ;  and  there 
is  nothing  which  can  bring  us  into  apprehensible 
relations  to  this,  which  eludes  verbal  expression, 


334  GENESIS   AND   MODEEN   SCIENCE. 

except  attahiahle,  related  truth.  Whatever  aids, 
therefore,  bring  lis  into  possession  of  trnths  cor- 
related to  these  expressed  or  faintly  shadowed 
or  snbliinely  subsumed  in  the  text  of  the  divine 
revelation,  it  is  not  only  legitimate,  but  our 
bounden  duty  to  summon.  The  more  devoutly 
we  hold  to  the  inspiration  of  the  Bible,  the  more 
devoutly  shall  we  recognize  the  atmosphere  of 
thoughts  wliicli  transcended  all  power  of  ex- 
pression in  the  language  of  a  rude  age,  and  the 
more  gladly  shall  we  seek  to  rise  to  the  highest 
summits  of  modern  thought  for  the  purpose  of 
catching  glimpses  of  the  divine  light  which  had 
not  risen  on  the  Hebrew  mind."  ^ 

This  subject  is  so  fascinating  that  with  reluc- 
tance I  lay  down  my  pen  as  I  close  my  discussion 
and  comparison  of  the  Hebrew  and  geologicnl 
hieroglj'phs  of  the  Creation,  The  simple  ideas 
which  I  have  endeavored  to  elucidate  have,  I 
trust,  proved  to  be  a  clue  which  has  led  us,  some- 
times in  the  dark  and  along  dangerous  ways, 
safely  through  the  mazes  of  the  laljyrinth  out 
into  the  clear  shining  of  the  day. 

1  Pre-adamiteSy  Wiucliell,  p.  45G. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

THE    SABBATH. 

Jekusalem  has  been  many  times  besieged  and 
often  destroyed.  The  valleys  between  its  four 
hills  have  been  filled  up  with  the  accumulations 
of  the  debris  of  its  successive  ruins,  so  that  but 
little  inequality  of  surface  is  now  observable. 
Its  historical  places,  however,  are  easily  identi- 
fied (among  these  the  area  of  Moriah,  where  have 
stood  the  temples  of  Solomon,  Zerubbabel,  and 
Herod,  heathen  altars  and  the  mosques  of  the 
Mohammedans),  while,  doubtless,  proper  exca- 
vations would  bring  to  light  relics  of  the  various 
periods  in  the  long  and  eventful  history  of  the 
Holj^  City.  A  journey  to  these  historic  scenes, 
a  personal  examination  of  the  manj-  points  of 
interest,  the  actual  sight  and  touch  of  the  old 
foundation-walls  of  the  first  temple  and  of  that 
remnant  of  an  arch  of  the  bridged  highway 
which  in  ancient  times  spanned  the  Tyropoeon 
Valley,  are  proofs  of  the  actual  Jerusalem  that 

335 


336  GENESIS   AND   MODEKN   SCIENCE. 

now  is  and  that  lias  been.  These  constitute  one 
record  of  its  existence  and  history. 

But  another  and  more  complete  record  is  its 
written  history,  found  not  only  in  the  sacred 
Scriptures,  but  also  in  profane  writings.  Here, 
with  great  particularity,  we  read  of  the  marvel- 
ous events,  the  mighty  heroes  and  their  exploits, 
the  magnificence  and  glory,  which  fill  up  its 
annals.  By  this  historical  literature  we  learn  of 
the  manners  and  customs  of  the  inhabitants  of 
the  city,  their  laws  and  religions,  and  the  suc- 
cessive events  in  the  progress  of  its  career.  We 
look  in  vaiu  for  the  magnificent  temj^le  which, 
at  the  beginning  of  the  Christian  era,  rose  in 
splendor  from  the  summit  of  Moriah ;  but  in  the 
written  history  we  are  infoi'med  of  its  appear- 
ance, its  architecture,  its  apartments  and  courts, 
its  sacrifices  and  festivals,  and  we  even  know  of 
its  furnishings,  its  golden  seven-branched  can- 
dlestick, and  all  its  sacred  and  symbolical  para- 
phernalia. This  constitutes  the  second  record ; 
and  while  it  cannot  satisfy  the  actual  test  of  the 
senses,  it  is  upon  this  record  that  we  mainly 
rely,  and  by  means  of  it  the  first  record  is  made 
more  intelligible  and  interesting. 

]\Iore  than  1,500  miles  northwest  of  Jerusalem, 
the  ancient  Holy  City,  in  the  modern  holy  city, 
Rome,  to-day  stands,  and  for  more  than  eighteen 
centuries  has  stood,  another  record.  It  is  the 
arch  of  Titus,  who  destroyed  Jerusalem  in  the 
year  70,  in  fulfillment  of  the  prophecy  of  our 


THE    SABBATH.  337 

Lord.  Upon  the  inside  of  the  arch  are  reliefs 
representing  the  trinniphal  procession :  on  the 
one  side  Titus  in  his  chariot,  and  on  the  other 
soldiers  bearing  the  golden  candlestick,  the 
trumpets,  and  the  table  for  the  show-bread. 
This  constitutes  the  third  record,  the  monu- 
mental, independent  of  the  others,  yet  corrob- 
orative of  them,  and  in  some  respects  the  most 
convincing  of  all. 

Thus  we  have  three  distinct  classes  of  evidence 
concerning  the  temple,— the  topographical,  the 
historical  or  literary,  and  the  monumental, — 
and  these  three  agree.  By  any  one  of  them  we 
can  corroborate  and  interpret  the  other  two. 

Tills  is  a  parable,  intended  to  illustrate  and 
enforce  the  far  greater  fact  that  there  are  also 
tljree  records  of  tlie  Creation.  The  first  is  the 
geological,  the  rocks  themselves,  wherein,  pile 
upon  pile,  are  the  different  strata  which  repre- 
sent the  various  stages  in  the  Idstory  of  the  earth, 
where  the  ruins  or  relics  of  one  age  are  found 
overlaid  with  those  of  another.  Tliese  bear  the 
closest  scrutiny  and  satisfy  the  senses.  They 
are  the  real  record,  the  real  things  themselves, 
though  they  were  not  understood  nor  even  rec- 
ognized a  hundred  years  ago. 

The  second  record  is  the  scriptural,  the  writ- 
ten history.  This  is  the  most  complete,  and  it 
informs  us  who  was  the  Creator  of  these  things, 
and  unfolds  the  wonderful  narrative  of  the 
Creation  itself. 


338  GENESIS   AND   MODERN   SCIENCE. 

The  third  is  the  monumental,  the  inscription 
graven  on  stone.  This  is  commemorative  in  its 
character,  as  are  all  monumental  records.  More- 
over, it  is  made  the  basis  of  hiw  and  the  founda- 
tion of  a  religion.  Tiiese  three  records  attest 
the  same  fact,  each  in  its  own  independent 
manner.  Each  corroborates  the  other  two  and 
interprets  them.  The  first  is  God's  liandiwork 
itself,  the  effect  produced  by  the  "first  great 
Cause  " ;  the  second  is  the  story  of  his  work  re- 
vealed by  the  Creator  himself  to  his  servant 
Moses,  whose  hand  wrote  it  for  our  learning; 
but  the  third  was  "  written  with  the  finger  of 
God  "  upon  "  two  tables  of  testimony,  tables  of 
stone."  ^  "  He  wrote  upon  the  tables  the  words 
of  the  covenant,  the  ten  commandments."  ^ 
Surely  the  third  record  is  the  most  inii)ortant  of 
all  and  commands  a  greater  respect  than  either 
of  the  other  two. 

What  is  the  record  which  God  thus  inscribed 
in  human  language  upon  tablets  of  stone! 
Surely  it  is  in  strict  agreement  with  what  he  in- 
scribed in  hieroglyphics  upon  the  rocky  tablets 
of  the  crust  of  the  earth. 

"  Remember  the  sabbath  day,  to  keep  it  holy. 
Six  days  shalt  thou  labour,  and  do  all  thy  work : 
but  the  seventh  day  is  the  sabbath  of  the  Lord 
thy  God  :  in  it  thou  shalt  not  do  any  work,  thou, 
nor  thy  son,  nor  tliy  dauglitor,  thy  manservant, 
nor  thy  maidservant,  nor  thy  cattle,  nor  thy 
1  Ex.  xxxi.  18.  -  Ex.  xxxiv.  28. 


THE    SABBATH.  339 

stranger  that  is  within  thy  gates:  for  in  six 
days  the  Lord  made  heaven  and  earth,  the  sea, 
and  all  that  in  tliem  is,  and  rested  the  seventh 
day:  wherefore  the  Lord  blessed  the  sabbath 
day,  and  hallowed  it."^ 

This  is  the  Fourth  Commandment  of  the 
Decalogue.  The  commandments  were  first 
spoken  to  Moses,-  but  after  God  had  made  an 
end  of  communing  with  him  the  Lord  inscribed 
them  upon  the  tables  of  stone.^  During  the  time 
that  Moses  was  upon  the  holy  mount  the  Israel- 
ites degenerated  into  idolatry.  "And  Moses 
turned,  and  went  down  from  the  mount,  and  the 
two  tables  of  the  testimony  were  in  his  liand: 
the  tables  were  written  on  both  their  sides ;  on 
the  one  side  and  on  the  other  were  they  \vritten. 
And  the  tables  were  the  work  of  God,  and  the 
writing  was  the  writing  of  God,  graven  upon 
the  tables.^  .  .  .  And  it  came  to  pass,  as 
soon  as  he  came  nigh  unto  the  camp,  that  he 
saw  the  calf,  and  the  dancing :  and  Moses'  anger 
waxed  hot,  and  he  cast  the  tables  out  of  his 
hands,  and  brake  them  beneath  the  mount." '^ 
Some  time  afterward  the  "  Lord  said  unto 
Moses,  Hew  thee  two  tables  of  stone  like  unto 
the  first:  and  I  will  write  upon  those  tables  the 
words  that  were  in  the  first  tables,  which  tliou 
brakest.*^    .     .     .    And  he  hewed  two  tables  of 

1  Ex.  XX.  8-lL  2  Ex.  XX.  L 

3  Ex.  xxxi.  18.  "  Ex.  xxxii.  15,  IG. 

^  Ex.  xxxii.  19.  ^  Ex.  xxxiv.  1. 


340  GENESIS   AND   MODERN    SCIENCE. 

stone  like  unto  the  first;  and  Moses  rose  up 
early  in  the  morning,  and  went  up  unto  mount 
Sinai,  as  the  Loed  had  commanded  him,  and 
took  in  his  hand  the  two  tables  of  stone.i  .  .  . 
And  he  was  there  with  the  Loed  forty  days  and 
forty  nights ;  he  did  neither  eat  bread,  nor  drink 
water.  And  he  wrote  upon  the  tables  the  words 
of  the  covenant,  the  ten  commandments."" 

An  ark  was  made,  of  which  a  description  is 
given  in  Exodus  xxxvii.  1-9 ;  and  Moses  "  took 
and  put  the  testimony  into  the  ark."^  "^here 
was  nothing  in  the  ark  save  the  two  tables  of 
stone,  which  Moses  put  there  at  Horeb,  when 
the  Loed  made  a  covenant  with  the  children 
of  Israel,  when  they  came  out  of  the  land  of 
Egypt."  *  There  was  no  object  held  more  sacred 
by  the  Jews  than  "  the  ark  of  God."  Here,  be- 
tween the  two  golden  cheruljim  of  the  mercy- 
seat,  God  specially  dwelt  and  shone  forth.  Here 
he  received  the  homage  of  his  people  and  dis- 
pensed his  living  oracles.  The  great  yearly 
sacrifice  of  expiation  was  offered  here  by  the 
high-priest  in  the  Holy  of  Holies.  During  the 
journeying  in  the  wilderness  the  ark  was  borne 
by  the  priests  under  a  purple  canopy  and  with 
great  reverence  l)efore  the  hosts.  Before  it  the 
Jordan  was  divided,  and  behind  it  the  waters 
flowed  on  again.  The  walls  of  Jericho  fell  down 
before  it.    It  was  carried  into  battle.     Solomon 

^  Ex.  xxxiv.  4.  -  Ex.  xxxiv.  28. 

3  Ex.  xl.  20.  4  I  Kiugs  viii.  9. 


THE    SABBATH.  341 

bronglit  it  at  last  into  the  temple  at  Jerusalem. 
The  ark  appears  to  have  been  destroyed  at  the 
captivity,  or  perhaps  concealed  by  pious  Jews 
in  some  hiding-j^lace  afterward  undiscoverable, 
as  we  hear  nothing  more  of  it ;  and  the  want 
of  it  made  the  second  temple  less  glorious  than 
the  first.^ 

The  first  temple  was  destroyed  by  Nebuchad- 
nezzar, the  king  of  Babylon.  The  account  of  it 
given  by  Josephus  -  is  as  follows :  "  And  now  it 
was  that  the  king  of  Babylon  sent  Nebuzaradan, 
the  general  of  his  army,  to  Jerusalem,  to  pillage 
the  temple,  who  had  it  also  in  command  to  burn 
it  and  the  royal  palace,  and  to  lay  the  city  even 
with  the  ground,  and  to  transplant  the  people 
into  Babylon.  Accordingly  he  came  to  Jeru- 
salem in  the  eleventh  year  of  King  Zedekiah,  and 
pillaged  the  temple,  and  carried  out  the  vessels 
of  God,  both  gold  and  silver,  and  particularly- 
that  large  laver  which  Solomon  dedicated,  as 
also  the  pillars  of  brass  and  their  chapiters,  with 
the  golden  tables  and  the  candlesticks;  and 
when  he  had  carried  these  off,  he  set  fire  to  the 
temple  in  the  fifth  month,  the  first  day  of  the 
month,  in  the  eleventh  year  of  the  reign  of 
Zedekiah,  and  in  the  eighteenth  year  of  Nebu- 
chadnezzar :  he  also  burnt  the  palace  and  over- 
threw the  city.  Now  the  temple  was  burnt  four 
hundred  and  seventy  years,  six  months,  and  ten 

^  Dictionary  of  the  Hohj  Bible,  p.  37. 

2  Antiquities  of  the  Jews,  Book  X.,  chap,  viii.,  sees.  5,  7. 


342  GENESIS    AND   MODERN    SCIENCE. 

days  after  it  was  built.  .  .  .  When  the  king  was 
come  to  Babylon,  he  kept  Zedekiah  in  prison  until 
he  died,  and  buried  him  magnificently,  and  dedi- 
cated the  vessels  he  had  pillaged  out  of  the 
temple  of  Jerusalem  to  his  own  gods,  and  planted 
the  people  in  the  country  of  Babylon,  but  freed 
the  high-priest  from  his  bonds." 

It  is  true  that  Josephus  does  not  here  mention 
the  ark  of  the  covenant,  which  was  really  the 
principal  object  among  all  the  holy  furnishings 
of  the  temple.  But  if  the  temple  was  plundered 
of  its  gold  and  silver  and  even  its  brass,  surely 
the  ark  of  the  covenant  was  not  sj^ared,  with  its 
plates  and  rings  of  gold  and  its  golden  mercy- 
seat  and  golden  cherubim.  That  it  was  then 
taken  seems  to  be  clearl}^  understood  from  the 
Books  of  Esdras.  "Wherefore  against  him 
[Joacim]  Nabuchodonosor  the  king  of  Babylon 
came  up,  and  bound  him  with  a  chain  of  brass, 
and  carried  him  into  Babylon.  Nabuchodo- 
nosor also  took  of  the  holy  vessels  of  the  Lord, 
and  carried  them  away,  and  set  them  in  his  own 
temple  at  Babylon."  ^  "  They  took  all  the  holy 
vessels  of  the  Lord,  both  great  and  small,  with 
the  vessels  of  the  ark  of  God,  and  the  king's 
treasures,  and  carried  them  away  into  Babylon. 
As  for  the  house  of  the  Lord,  they  burnt  it,  and 
brake  down  the  walls  of  Jerusalem,  and  set 
fire  upon  her  towers :  and  as  for  her  glorious 
things,  they  never  ceased  till  they  had  consumed 
1  1  Esd.  i.  40,  41. 


THE    SABBATH.  343 

and  brought  tliem  all  to  nought :  and  the  people 
that  were  not  slain  with  the  sword  he  carried 
into  Babylon  :  who  became  servants  to  him  and 
his  children,  till  the  Persians  reigned,  to  fulfill 
the  word  of  the  Lord  spoken  by  the  mouth  of 
Jeremy:  until  the  land  had  enjoyed  her  sab- 
baths, the  whole  time  of  her  desolation  shall 
she  rest,  until  the  full  term  of  seventy  years."  i 
"How  many  are  the  adversities  of  SionI  be 
comforted  in  regard  of  the  sorrow  of  Jerusalem. 
For  thou  seest  that  our  sanctuary  is  laid  waste, 
our  altar  broken  down,  our  temple  destroj^ed; 
our  psaltery  is  laid  on  the  ground,  our  song  is 
put  to  silence,  our  rejoicing  is  at  an  end,  the 
light  of  our  candlestick  is  put  out,  the  ark  of 
our  covenant  is  spoiled,  our  holy  things  are  de- 
filed, and  the  name  that  is  called  upon  us  is 
almost  profaned :  our  children  are  put  to  shame, 
our  priests  are  burnt,  our  Levites  are  gone  into 
captivity,  .   .  .  our  righteous  men  carried  away, 
our  little  ones  destroyed,  our  young  men  are 
brought  in  bondage,  and  our  strong  men  are  be- 
come weak ;  and,  which  is  the  greatest  of  all, 
the  seal  of  Sion  hath  now  lost  her  honour ;  for 
she  is  dehvered  into  the  hands  of  them  that  hate 
us."-     "By  the  rivers  of  Babylon,  there  we  sat 
down,  yea,  we  wept,  when  we  remembered  Zion. 
We  hanged  our  harps  upon  the  willows  in  the 
midst  thereof.     For  there  they  that  carried  us 
away  captive  required  of  us  a  song ;  and  they 
1  1  Esd.  i.  54-58.  -'  2  Esd.  x.  20-23. 


344  GENESIS   AND   MODERN    SCIENCE. 

that  wasted  us  required  of  us  mirth,  saying, 
Sing  us  one  of  the  songs  of  Zion.  How  shall 
we  sing  the  Lord's  song  in  a  strange  land?  If 
I  forget  thee,  0  Jerusalem,  let  my  right  hand 
forget  her  cunning.  If  I  do  not  remember  thee, 
let  my  tongue  cleave  to  the  roof  of  my  mouth ; 
if  I  prefer  not  Jerusalem  above  mj  chief  joy. 
Remember,  O  Lord,  the  children  of  Edom  in  the 
day  of  Jerusalem ;  who  said,  Rase  it,  rase  it, 
even  to  the  foundation  thereof.  0  daughter  of 
Babylon,  who  art  to  be  destroyed ;  happy  shall 
he  be,  that  rewardeth  thee  as  thou  hast  served 
us.  Happy  shall  he  be,  that  taketli  and  dasheth 
thy  little  ones  against  the  stones."  i 

It  is  probable  that  these  tables  of  stone  have 
been  demolished;  yet  as  God  has  often  inter- 
posed his  providence  for  the  preservation  of  his 
Holy  Word,  it  is  entirely  possible  that  they  may 
yet  come  to  light  in  the  exploration  of  the  ruins 
of  Babylon,  or  even  in  some  part  of  the  Holy 
Land  itself.-     At   present,  however,  they  are 

^  Ps.  cxxxvii. 

2  A  similar  tlionglit  is  expressed  by  General  Lew 
Wallace,  in  Ben  Rur,  p.  Ill : 

"  Oh,  I  see  now  why  the  Greek  outstripped  us/'  said 
Judah,  intensely  interested.  ^'  And  the  ark ;  ac- 
cursed be  the  Babylonians  who  destroyed  it !  " 

"Nay,  Judah;  he  of  faith.  It  was  not  destroyed, 
only  lost,  hidden  away  too  safely  in  some  cavern  of 
the  mountains.  One  day— HiUel  and  Shammai  both 
say  so— one  day,  in  the  Lord's  good  time,  it  will  be 


THE   SABBATH.  345 

certainly  lost,  and  hence  secondary  evidence  is 
admissible  to  prove  what  inscriptions  they  bore. 
If  in  the  destruction  of  Eonie  the  barbarians 
had  destro3^ed  the  arch  of  Titus,  as  many  other 
structures  were  laid  in  I'uins,  its  value  as  monu- 
mental evidence  would  be  none  the  less,  because 
its  existence  and  an  accurate  description  of  it 
could  be  shown  by  history,  and  when  these  were 
ascertained  it  would,  as  testimony,  be  precisely 
as  valualjle  as  before. 

In  respect  to  the  Decalogue  the  secondary 
evidence  is  fully  as  strong  as  the  tables  of  stone 
themselves  w^ould  be,  and  even  more  so.  The 
Jews  have  made  it  the  foundation  of  their 
religion  for  nearly  thirty-four  centuries.  This 
peculiar  people,  for  more  than  half  of  the  period 
of  its  existence  without  a  country  and  without 
government,  has  maintained  its  national  iden- 
tity. It  has  outlived  the  empires  of  Babylon,  of 
Persia,  of  Grreece,  and  of  Rome.  It  has  kept  its 
religion  intact  and  its  i:)ure  monotheism  has 
survived  the  ancient  m5'thologies  and  polythe- 
isms. Its  Sabbath  observance  has  been  no  less 
conspicuous  and  characteristic  than  its  worship 
of  the  one  living  and  true  God.  This  institu- 
tion, preserved  through  a  hundred  generations, 

found  and  bronglit  fortli,  and  Israel  dance  before  it, 
singing  as  of  old." 

For  traditions  about  the  hiding  of  the  ark  of  the 
covenant  and  when  it  will  be  found  again,  see  Giekie's 
Life  of  Christ,  vol.  i.,  p.  364. 


346  GENESIS   AND   MODERN    SCIENCE. 

and  resting  always  upon  the  religious  obligation 
of  the  Fourth  Commandment,  is  a  more  signifi- 
cant fact  than  could  be  the  stone  tablet  itself  on 
which  that  commandment  was  written. 

No  less  significant  is  the  Christian  observance 
of  the  Lord's  day;  for  although  the  holy  day 
has  been  changed  from  the  seventh  to  the  first 
day  of  the  week,  the  Christian  church  has  trans- 
ferred to  the  first  day  all  the  sanctity  which 
formerly  belonged  to  the  seventh,  and,  equally 
with  the  Jewish  church,  invokes  in  its  defense 
the  Fourth  Commandment.  It  is  not  my  pur- 
pose to  explain  or  justify  this  change  of  the 
holy  day.  The  literature  on  the  subject  is 
abundant  and  easily  accessible.  But  whether 
the  reasons  are  satisfactory  or  not,  the  fact  re- 
mains that  both  Jews  and  Christians  for  many 
centuries  have  observed  and  halloVed  one  day 
in  the  week  for  the  worship  of  Grod  and  for  rest 
from  labor.  Moreover,  it  is  broadly  claimed — 
and,  I  think,  with  sufficient  reason — that  the 
institution  of  the  Sabbath  day  long  antedated 
the  Decalogue.  The  words  "  Ren] ember  the  sab- 
bath day  "  indicate  plainly  that  the  Sabbath  was 
already  well  known.  The  giving  of  the  manna 
fi'om  heaven  every  day  for  six  days  in  succes- 
sion, but  the  withholding  of  it  on  the  seventh, 
proves  the  Sabbath  custom.  "This  is  that 
which  the  Lord  hath  said,  To  morrow  is  the 
rest  of  the  holy  sabbath  unto  the  Lord  :  bake 
that  which  ye  will  bake  to  day,  and  seethe  that 


THE   SABBATH.  347 

ye  will  seethe ;  and  that  which  remaineth  over 
lay  np  for  you  to  be  kept  until  the  morning.  .  .   . 
And  Moses  said,  Eat  that  to  day ;  for  to  day  is 
a  sabbath  unto  the  Loud:  to  day  ye  shall  not 
find  it  in  the  field.     8ix  days  ye  shall  gather  it ; 
but  on  the  seventh  day,  which  is  the  sabbath, 
in  it  there  shall  be  none."  ^     Noah  sent  forth 
from  the  ark  a  raven,  and  seven  days  later  a 
dove,  and  seven  days  afterward  a  dove.-     The 
Passover  and  tlie  Feast  of  Tabernacles  were 
prolonged  for  seven  days  after  their  initiation.^* 
"  There  is  no  doubt  about  the  gi-eat  antiquity  of 
measuring  time  by  a  period  of  seven  days.     It 
was  done  by  the  Arabs,  Hindus,  Assyrians,  Per- 
sians, and  Egyptians,  and  later  l)y  the  Greeks 
and  Romans.     This  hebdomadal  division  of  time 
was  known  from  the  earliest  times  among  na- 
tions remote  from  one  another  in  Europe,  Asia, 
and  Africa.     This  observance  is  so  wide-spread, 
and  it  occupies  so  important  a  place  in  sacred 
things,  that  it  must  be  thrown  back  to  the  crea- 
tion of  man.     The  week  and  the  8abbath  are  as 
old  as  man  himself.    Like  the  institution  of  mar- 
riage, it  was  given  to  man  for  the  whole  race." 
The  observance  of  the  Sabbath  is  an  essential 
part  of  the  religion  of  all  nations  which  worship 
Jehovah,  and  distinguishes  them  from  the  wor- 
shipers of  gods.     The  Sabbath  was  originally 
appointed  to  commemorate  the  completion  of 

1  Ex.  xvi.  23-26.  2  Qen.  viii.  7-12. 

^  Ex.  xii.  15-20. 


348  GENESIS   AND   MODEKN   SCIENCE. 

the  creative  work,  but  to  this  the  Christian  re- 
ligion has  added  the  celebration  of  the  resurrec- 
tion of  Jesus  Christ  from  the  dead.  These  two 
great  events  are  celebrated  once  every  week, 
from  generation  to  generation,  century  after 
century.  All  other  events  are  celebrated,  if  at 
all,  only  by  anniversaries. 

It  has  been  my  purpose  in  these  images  not 
only  to  demonstrate  the  literal  truthfulness  of 
the  first  chapter  of  Genesis  by  showing  its  en- 
tire agreement  with  the  modern  science  of  geol- 
logy,  but  also,  if  successful  in  this  endeavor,  to 
connnend  the  observance  of  the  Sabbath  by  re- 
storing to  it  the  reasonableness  of  its  original 
sanction.  I  could  not,  if  I  desired,  add  anything 
of  value  to  the  vast  amount  of  argument  and 
thought  already  spent  uj^ton  the  Sabbatarian  con- 
troversy, neither  shall  I  review  nor  restate  the 
reasons  in  favor  of  obedience  to  the  Fourth 
Commandment.  It  is  evident  that  this  time- 
hallowed  institution  is  waning  in  its  influence 
upon  the  consciences  of  men,  and  is  losing  its 
hold  upon  the  affection  and  reverence  of  almost 
every  connnunity.  Sabbath  desecration  is  rap- 
idly and  steadily  increasing,  and  each  year  brings 
ncnv  forms  and  modes  of  sacrilege  and  a  larger 
license.  I  cannot  refrain  from  the  thought  that 
among  the  various  causes  which  have  conduced  to 
this  lamentable  result  is  the  wide-spread  unbelief 
of  the  strict  truthfulness  of  the  Bible  account  of 
the  Creation — the  earliest  and  highest  sanction 


THE    SABBATH.  oJ:9 

of  this  liol}^  institution,  of  which  the  Fourth 
Oomniandmeiit  is  only  declarative.  Science  has 
attacked  its  statements,  and  has  claimed  to 
prove  them  untrue ;  and  believers  in  the  Chris- 
tian religion — under  the  supposed  urgency  of 
the  case — have  been  largely  disposed  to  concede 
the  claims  of  scientists  and  to  seek  refuge  in 
sym1)olical  interpretations,  which  have  placed 
the  commandment  in  a  false  and  unreasonable 
light.  Professor  Tyndall  has  written  concern- 
ing the  Sabbath  question,  and  says,  after  allud- 
ing to  this  new  position  assumed  by  religious 
teachers :  "  The  Mosaic  account  was  thus  reduced 
to  a  poetic  myth,  a  view  which  afterward  found 
expression  in  the  vast  reveries  of  Hugh  Miller. 
But  if  this  symbolic  interpretation,  which  is  now 
generally  accepted,  be  the  true  one,  what  be- 
comes of  the  Sabbath  day!  It  is  absolutely 
without  ecclesiastical  meaning;  and  the  man 
who  was  executed  for  gathering  sticks  on  that 
day  must  be  regarded  as  the  victim  of  a  rude 
legal  rendering  of  a  religious  epic."  Such  a  con- 
clusion is  unavoidable  from  the  denial  of  the 
literal  truth  of  the  Bible  history  of  the  Creation 
of  the  world  and  the  institution  of  the  Sabbath. 
The  sole  reason  given  in  the  Decalogue  for  keep- 
ing the  Sabl)ath  day  holy  is  thus  destroyed,  and 
the  religious  observance  of  the  Sabbath  no 
longer  rests  on  divine  sanction. 

But  over  against  this  confusion  of  human 
wisdom  stand — clear,  majestic,  inviolable,  and 


350  GENESIS   AND  MODERN    SCIENCE. 

awful — the  words  which  the  infinite  and  holy 
God,  who  inhabiteth  eternity,  himself  spake, 
amid  grand  and  terrible  glories  on  Mount  Sinai : 
"Remember  the  sabbath  day,  to  keep  it  holy. 
Six  days  shalt  thou  labour,  and  do  all  thy  work : 
but  the  seventh  day  is  the  sabbath  of  the  Lord 
thy  God :  in  it  thou  shalt  not  do  any  work :  .  .  . 
for  in  six  days  the  Lord  made  heaven  and  earth, 
the  sea,  and  all  that  in  them  is,  and  rested  the 
seventh  day:  wherefore  the  Lord  blessed  the 
sabbath  day,  and  hallowed  it."  Imagine,  if 
possible,  Moses  standing  in  the  divine  presence 
and  replying  unto  God,  "But  thou  didst  not 
create  the  world  in  six  days ! "  Yet  thus  stands 
Science  and  denies  the  solemn  declaration  of 
him  who  alone  knows  the  secrets  of  the  uni- 
verse !  It  is  not  strange  that  the  mild  and  gentle 
Cowper  should  have  winged  his  keen  shaft  of 
sarcasm  when  he  wrote  :^ 

"  Some  drill  and  bore 
The  solid  earth,  and  from  the  strata  there 
Extract  a  register,  by  which  we  learn 
That  He  who  made  it  and  revealed  its  date 
To  Moses  was  mistaken  in  its  age." 

"The  reasons  annexed  to  the  Fourth  Com- 
mandment" (to  borrow  the  quaint  expression 
framed  by  the  Westminster  Assembly  of  Di- 
vines) are  that  God  labored  for  six  days  in  the 
work  of  creation,  and  rested  on  the  seventh  day ; 

1  The  Tasl;  Book  III.,  ''  The  Garden." 


THE   SABEATII.  351 

tlierefore  he  requires  man  to  perform  Lis  laljor 
ill  six  days,  and  hallow  the  seventh  day.  It'  the 
reason  given  had  been,  as  in  the  Fifth  Com- 
mandment, that  by  so  doing  man  should  enjoy 
long  life  (which  would  have  been  a  very  strong 
and  rational  one),  Science  would  have  sanctioned 
the  commandment  and  loudly  proclaimed  the 
healtliful  influence  ui^on  body  and  mind  result- 
ing from  this  periodical  rest.  But  the  com- 
mand contains  no  such  intimation  ;  and  even  if 
it  had  been  based  upon  considerations  of  health 
and  longevity,  mankind  would  have  disregarded 
it.  The  loss  of  more  than  fourteen  per  cent,  of 
our  lifetime  in  Sabbath-keeping  has  aroused  the 
indignation  of  would-be  reformers,  and  in  the 
demands  of  business,  and  the  eager  strife  for 
wealth,  men  would  have  found  a  justification 
fo]'  neglecting  a  command  resting  solely  on  such 
a  reason ;  while  the  Sabbath-breaker  would 
calmly  refute  the  reason  itself  by  showing  that 
a  very  large  fraction  of  the  human  race  has  not 
devoted  one-seventh  of  its  time  to  rest,  yet  has 
attained  the  average  age  of  men  living  in  Chris- 
tian lands,  and  by  insisting  that  the  necessities 
of  modern  civilization  cannot  yield  to  such  a  law. 
But  when  God  claims  for  himself  one-seventh 
of  our  time,  and  bases  his  requirements  on  his 
own  example,  every  one  who  bears  him  alle- 
giance recognizes  the  right,  the  reasonableness, 
and  the  importance  of  the  command. 

If   the  commandment  read,  as  Science  has 


352  GENESIS  AND   MODERN    SCIENCE. 

hitherto  interpreted  it,  "  for  in  millions  of  years 
the  Lord  made  the  world  and  then  rested,  there- 
fore shalt  thou  labor  six  days  and  rest  on  the 
seventh  day,"  the  reasoning  would  not  be  perti- 
nent or  consequential.  Neither  would  it  be  so 
if  the  commandment  read, "  for  in  six  days  Moses 
saw  in  a  series  of  visions  the  work  which  the 
Lord  had  done  in  millions  of  years,  therefore 
shalt  thou  labor  six  days  and  rest  on  the  seventh 
day."  The  only  interjoretation  which  is  reason- 
able is  the  one  plainly  stated  in  the  command- 
ment itself :  that  as  the  Lord  in  six  days  created 
the  world,  and  on  the  seventh  day  rested  from 
his  labors,  so  must  we  work  six  days  and  keep 
the  Sabbath  day  holy. 

It  may  be  said  that  the  theory  set  forth  in 
these  pages  is  quite  as  hostile  to  the  literalness 
of  the  Fourth  Commandment  as  are  those  which 
I  have  so  sharply  criticised.  If  so, — if  it  cannot 
bear  the  test  of  God's  Word, — it  is  unworthy  of 
acceptation.  I  think,  however,  that  the  theory 
is  not  fairly  exposed  to  such  criticism.  If  it  V)e 
objected  that  the  first  three  days  by  tliis  hy- 
pothesis w^ere  thousands  of  years  long,  still  it  is 
true  that  each  was  strictly  and  literally  hut  one  dai/ 
— each  had  but  one  alternation  of  darkness  and 
light.  Two  of  them  did  not  relate  to  animate 
life.  All  were  days  of  God's  existence,  and  not 
days  of  human  life.  The  days  of  eternity  are 
not  measured  by  hours.  To  a  Being  who  is  from 
everlasting  to  everlasting,  "  having  neither  be- 


THE   SABBATH.  353 

ginning  of  days  nor  end  of  life,"  all  whose  time 
is  "  an  eternal  now,"  the  passing  of  twenty-four 
hours  is  not  a  day,  as  with  men.  "  Beloved,  be 
not  ignorant  of  this  one  thing,  that  one  day  is 
with  the  Lord  as  a  thousand  years,  and  a  thou- 
sand years  as  one  day."  ^  "  A  thousand  years  in 
thy  sight  are  but  as  yesterday  when  it  is  past."  2 
What  do  these  solemn  words  mean,  if  not  that 
God  is  not  limited  by  our  little  standards  and 
measures  of  time  !  What  though  that  long  third 
day,  a  time  perhaps  equal  to  many  centuries  of 
our  present  reckoning,  passed  away  ere  the  sun 
even  once  touched  the  western  horizon — was  it 
to  God  more  than  one  day?  But  when  God 
enjoins  upon  us  the  observance  of  each  seventh 
day  of  our  lives  upon  earth,  days  of  twenty-four 
hours  each,  and  commands  us  to  use  six  days 
for  ourselves  and  sanctify  the  seventh  to  him, 
and  pr(Hlicates  his  commandment  upon  his  own 
example  in  the  Creation  of  the  world  in  six  days 
and  his  resting  on  the  seventh,  he  signifies  a 
literal  coinjiliance  with  his  command,  and  gives 
a  reason  which,  until  the  present  century,  has 
never  been  denied  nor  explained  away  by  any 
Christian  believer. 

Let  us,  then,  restore  the  ancient  command- 
ment to  its  jnistine  glory,  and  receive  it  in  child- 
like simplicity  in  our  faith  and  practice,  and  keep 
as  holy  time  each  seventh  day  the  Lord  shall  give 
us  upon  the  earth,  reniend^oring  his  promise: 

'  2  Pet.  iii.  8.  ^  Ps.  xc.  4. 


354  GENESIS   AND   MODERN   SCIENCE. 

"  If  thou  turn  away  thy  foot  from  the  sabbath, 
from  doing  thy  pleasure  on  my  holy  day ;  and 
call  the  sabbath  a  delight,  the  holy  of  the  Lord, 
honourable;  and  shalt  honour  him,  not  doing 
thine  own  ways,  nor  finding  thine  own  pleasure, 
nor  speaking  thine  own  words :  then  shalt  thou 
delight  thyself  in  the  Lord;  and  I  will  cause 
thee  to  ride  upon  the  high  places  of  the  earth, 
and  feed  thee  with  the  heritage  of  Jacob  thy 
father :  for  the  mouth  of  the  Lord  hath  spoken 
it."  ' 

1  Isa.  Iviii.  13,  14. 


INDEX  OF  BOOKS  AND  AUTHORITIES. 


Adhemar,  86. 

Agassiz,  118,  119, 125,  202,  328. 
American  Encyclopedia,  185. 
American  Journal  of  Science, 

135. 
Anaximander,  43. 
Anaximenes,  44. 
Antiquities  of  the  Jews,  Jose- 

phus,  300.  341. 
Apocryplia,  342,  343. 
Autobiogi'apliy   of   the  Earth, 

Hutchinson,  321. 

Babbage,  317. 

Ball,  102. 

Ben  Hur,  Wallace,  344. 

Berosus,  278. 

Bi1)el  und  Astronomie,  9. 

Biblical  Repository,  10. 

Birth  and  Growth  of  Worlds, 

Green,  24. 
Boardman,  9. 
Bridgewater  Treatise,  326. 
Buckland,  10,  217,  326. 
Buffon,  232. 
Bunsen,  249,  302. 
Bushmen  Folk-lore,  146. 

Catlin,  281. 

Causes   of   an   Ice  Age,    Ball, 

103. 
Century,  3. 

Century  Magazine,  26. 
Challenger's  Reports.  113. 
Chambers's   Encyclopedia,  31. 


94,  95,  10.3,  104,  111,  146, 
160,  161,  164,  182,  220,  239, 
249,  250,   262,  303,   316. 

Ciel  et  Terre,  138. 

Climate  and  Cosmology,  Croll, 
129,  130. 

Climate  and  Time,  Croll,  22, 
87,  102,  119,  130. 

Commentary,  Jamieson,  Fans- 
set  and  Brown,  35,  39,  67, 
251,  283. 

Commentary,  Lange,  37,  38, 
59,  214. 

Comparatiye  Zoology,  Orton, 
253. 

Compend  of  Geology,  Le  Conte, 
325,  326. 

Concordance,  Young,  38,  40, 
155,  213. 

Congi'es  International,  242. 

Controverted  (Questions  of  Ge- 
ology, Prestwich,  331. 

Cooling  Globe,  Winslow,  83, 
85,  318. 

Cornhill  JMagazine,  199. 

Cosmos,   143. 

Cowper,  350. 

Crawford,  303. 

Creative  Week,  Boardman,  9. 

Croll,  22,  87,  102,  103,  119,  128, 
129,   130. 

Cuvier,  232,  252. 

Daily  Bible  Illustrations,  Kitto, 
296. 


356 


INDEX   OF   BOOKS   AND   AUTHORITIES. 


Dana,  10,  78,  79,  86,  122,  134, 
149,  150,  166,  181,  182,  183, 
185.  195,  2U3,  227,  230,  235, 
236;  239,  256,  257,  258,  263, 

264,  272,  288,  323,  324. 
Darwin,  C,  116,  232,  233,  262, 

265.  313. 
Darwin,  G.,  91. 
Darwin,  G.  H.,  26. 
Dawson,  11,   12,   219,  249,  251, 

316,  324. 
De  Blainville,  160. 
Delitzseh,  227. 
Deluge,  Klee,  330. 
Desor,  313. 
Dewey,  162. 
Dictionary  of  the  Bible,  Smith, 

301. 
Die  Schopfungsgeschiehte  nnd 

Lehre  vom  Paradies,  105. 
Dorman,  141. 

Earth's  History,  Roberts,  320. 
Edinburgh  Review,  103. 
Elements   of    Geology,    Lyell, 

326. 
Empedocles,  44. 
Eiicyclopfedia   Bi'itanniea,   78, 

86,  87,  92,  101,  121,  123,  137, 

167,  185,   195,  203,  222,  280, 

316. 
Essay  on   Probabilities,  A.  de 

Morgan,  48. 
Evidences      of      Christianitj^, 

Sears,  44. 

r^ansset,  67. 

Figuier,  64,  108,  147,  182,  289. 

Flora   Aretica    Fossilis,  Heer, 

199. 
Flora   of    Australia,    Hooker, 

198. 
Fraissent,  247. 
Frazer's  Magazine,  274. 

Geikie,  A.,  192,  195,  283. 

Geikie,  V.,   345. 

(ienesis  and  Geology,  Hiiglies, 
39,  78,  156,  167,"  171,  206, 
210,  211,  212,  213,  223. 


Geology,  Geikie,  192,  195,  283. 

Geology  and  Physical  Geog- 
raphy of  Brazil,  Hartt,  119, 
123. 

Gesenius,  39,  155,  210,  211, 
213. 

Glaciers,  Agassiz,  328. 

Gray,  100,  152,  162. 

Green,  24. 

Guillemin,  137. 

Hartt,  119,  123. 

Heavens,  Guillemin,  137. 

Heer,  199. 

Helmholtz,  22. 

Herodotus,  146. 

Herschel,  19,  165. 

History  of  Warfare  of  Science 

with  Theology,   Wliite,  310, 

311. 
Holmes,   161. 
Hooker,  115,  198. 
Hough,  14. 
Hughes,  39,  78,   156,   166,  167, 

171,  206,  210,  211,  212,  213, 

223. 
Human    Origins,    Laing.    246, 

247,  286,  287,  288,  332. 
Humboldt,  111,  166,  259. 
Hutchinson,  321. 
Hutton,  190. 
Huxley,  192. 

Illustrated  Astronomy,  Smith, 

97. 
International   Cyclopedia,    20, 

122    262. 
Island  Life,  Wallace,  198. 

Jacqninot.  252. 
Jamieson,  35,  39,  251,  283. 
Johnson's     Encvclopedia,     19, 

114,  118,  119,  "121,  12.3,  192. 
Josephus,  308,  341. 
Jonrney    in    Brazil,    Agassiz, 

118,  119,  125. 

Kant,  19. 
Keerl,  105. 
Kepler,  178. 


INDEX   OF   BOOKS   AND   AUTHORITIES.        357 


Kingslev,  148. 
Kitto,  296. 
Klee,  147,  330. 
Korau,  47. 
Kurtz,  9. 

Laino.,  246,  247,  286,  287,  288, 

332. 
Lamarck,  233. 
Lange,  37,  38,  59,  214. 
Laplace,  14,  19,  96. 
Latham,  252. 
Le  Conte,  19,  166,  325. 
Leibnitz,   19. 
Leisure  Hour,  250. 
Lenormant,  243. 
Les  Premiers   Hommes  et  les 

Temps  Prehistoriques,  105. 
Les    Premieres    Civilisations, 

243. 
Lessons  in  Botany,  Gray,  152, 

162. 
Lewes,  161. 

Life  of  Christ,  Geikie,  345, 
Linnaeus,  157. 

Literary  Digest,  28,  143,  145. 
Lowell,  144. 
Lubbock,  241. 
Lvell,    8,    100,    101,   108,    113, 

'239,  260,  265,  269,  277,  313, 

326,  331. 

Maodler,  93. 

Mangin,  147. 

IMnnn.  271. 

Manual  of  Geologv,  Dana.  78, 
79,  87,  122.  123,  149,  181, 
184,  185.  196,  203,  227,  235, 
236,  239,  256,  257,  258,  263, 
264,   265. 

Manual  of  Geology,  Lyell,  239. 

[Manual  of  Zoology,  Tennev, 
218. 

Mattison,  28. 

Maver,  21. 

Middendorf.  259. 

Miller,  216,  227,  269,  292,  296, 
325. 

Milton,  39,  330. 

Mohammed,  47. 


Moon  :  Considered  as  a  Planet, 

a   World,    and    a    Satellite, 

Nasmvtli  and  Carpenter,  22, 

72,  74",  95,  96,  165. 
Moon  and  the  Conditions  and 

Configurations  of  its  Surface, 

Nelson,  96. 
Morgan,  A.  de,  48. 
Mosaic  History  of  the  Creation 

of  the  World,  Wood,  34,  38, 

68,  327,  328. 
Murchison,  185. 

Nadaillac,  104. 

Nasmvth   and   Carpenter,    22, 

72,  74,  95,  96,  165. 
Natural      History      of      Man, 

Pritchard,  252. 
Naturalist's  Voyage  Round  the 

World,    Darwin,    262,    265, 

266. 
Nature,  115,  241. 
Neison,  96. 
Nordenskjold,  103,  110,  260. 

Gibers,  28. 

Old  Testament  History,  Smith, 

33,  38,  290. 
Old  Volume  of  Life,  Holmes, 

161. 
Origin  of  Species,  Darwin,  315. 
Origin  of  the  World,  Dawson, 

11,  251. 
Orton,  253. 

Packard,  254. 

Paradise  Found,  Warren,  105, 
110,  114,  115,  133,  135,  141, 
146,  198,  199,  248,  253,  255, 
200,  284,  330.  331. 

Paradise  Lost,  Milton,  .39.  .330. 

Patriarchal  Dynasties,  Craw- 
ford. 303. 

Patrick,  39. 

Patterson,  28. 

Popular  Astronomy.  145. 

Populiire  Astronomic.  93. 

Po])ular  Science  Monthly,  8, 
106,  127,  128,  13.3,  138,' 201, 
240,   241,  246,   248. 


358    INDEX  OF  BOOKS  AND  AUTHORITIES. 


Pre-adamites,  Winchell,  Go, 
241,  303,  334. 

Prestwich,  239,  331. 

Primitive  Superstitions,  Dor- 
man,  141. 

Principles  of  Biology,  Spencer, 
160. 

Principles  of  Geology,  Lyell, 
8,  100,  108,  113,  260,  277, 
313. 

Pritehard,  252. 

Proctor,  137,  190. 

Pulpit  Commentary,  White- 
law,  227. 

Quatrefages,  245,  246. 

Raleigh,  282. 
Rawlinson,  250. 
Reclus,  106. 

Reconciliation  of  Science  and 
Religion,  Winchell,   36,  321. 
Revolutions  de  la  Mer,  86. 
Revne  des  Deux  Mondes,  133. 
Richerau<l,  160. 
Roberts,  320. 

Salter,  316. 

Saporta,  Marquis  de,  133,  284. 

Sayce,  279. 

Scenes  in  the  Planet  Mercurj^, 

Schiaparelli,  138. 
Sehem,  1S5. 
Schiaparelli,  138,  143. 
Scribner,  255. 
Sears,  44. 
See,  145. 
Shaler,  314. 
Shields,  3. 
Sketches  of  Creation,  Winchell, 

66,  153,  322. 
Smith,  A.,  97. 
Smith,  G.,  279. 
Smith,  W.,  33,  38,  290,  301. 
Spectator,   190. 
Spencer,  160. 
Story  of  our  Continent,  Shaler, 

314. 
Story  of  the  Earth   and   Man, 

Dawson,  219,  249,  316,  324. 


Taechini,  143. 

Task,  Covvper,  350. 

Tenney,  218. 

Testimony  of  the  Rocks,  Miller, 

270,  292,  296,  325. 
Text-book  of  Geology,   Dana, 

150,  182,  196,  272,  *288,  323, 

324. 
Tliales,  43. 

Thomson,  91,  92,  313. 
Topinard,  242. 

Town  Geology,  Kingsley,  148. 
Two  Records,  Miller,  2]"6,  227. 
Tyndall,  349. 

Urgesehichte  der  Menschheit, 

242. 
Usher,  250,  301,  302. 

Van  Baer,  259. 

Voyage  of  the  Vega,  Norden- 
skjBld,  110,  260. 

Wallace,  A.  R.,  198,  246. 

Wallace,  L.,  344. 

Warren,  105,  110,  114,  11.5,  133, 
135,  140,  146,  198,  199,  248, 
253,  255,  260,  284,  329,  331. 

Way,  Truth,  and  Life,  Dewej , 
162. 

Westminster  Shorter  Cate- 
chism, 5,  350. 

Wliere  did  Life  Begin?  Scrib- 
ner, 255. 

Whewell,  315. 

White,  243,  310,  311. 

Whitelaw,   227. 

Whitney,  242. 

Wilkes,"  113. 

Winchell,  36,  65,  66,  127,  153, 
241,  303,  321,  322,  323,  334. 

Winslow,  83,  85,  318. 

Wood,  34,  38,  68,  327,  328. 

World  before  the  Deluge,  Fi- 
guier,  64,  110,  148,  182,  289. 

World  Life,  Winchell,  127,  323. 

Wriglit,  314. 

Young,  38,  40,  155,  213. 
Zoology,  Packard,  254. 


GENERAL  INDEX. 


Africa,  185,  284. 

Ages  of  the  antediluvian  patri- 
archs, 303-307. 

Amazon  valley,  118,  119. 

Antarctic  continent,  87,  128, 
263. 

Antarctic  ice,  87,  128. 

Anthropology,  251. 

Antiquity  of  man,  233-251, 
288. 

Archaean  rocks,  78. 

Arctic  cold,  259,  264. 

Arctic  fossils,  100-111. 

Arctic  regions,  former  torrid 
climate  of,  99-111,  117,  258- 
260,  285. 

Ark,  capacity  of,  282. 

Ai'k  of  the  Covenant,  340-345. 

Articulates,  209,  222-225. 

Assvriologv,  279,  309-311,  347. 

Asteroids,  "20,  28-30. 

Astronomical  photography,  24, 
25. 

Astronomv,  14,  19-31,  136, 
138-146! 

Atmosphere.  63,  70-74. 

Australia,  183,  184,  185,  199- 
201,  261,  269.  283. 

Australian  coal-beds,  183.  184. 

Axis  of  earth,  change  in  direc- 
tion of.  79,  80,  85,  91,  92, 
147,  148,  174,  175,  183,  256, 
258,  261,  264,  332. 

Axis  of  the  earth,  parallelism 
of,  178,  180. 


Azoic  age,  78,  188,  196,  257, 
262. 

Bible  not  a  text-book  of  sci- 
ence, 15,  221. 

Birds,  181,  205,  217,  218,  224, 
297. 

Botany,  152-158,  197,  198,  315- 
319. 

Brazil,  glaciers  of,  118,  119. 

Carbonic   acid   gas,    167,    168, 

181. 
Carboniferous    age,    71,     149, 

154,   165-167,  171,  181,  182, 

226,  262. 
Carnivora,  220,  227,  236. 
Cenozoic  time,   196,  229,  234, 

256,  257. 
Chemical  elements,  20. 
Chemistry,  20,  45,  65,  66,  320, 

321. 
Chronology,  249,  301-309,  312. 
Climate,  changes  of,  1S6,  196, 

197,  200,  201,  244,  2.58,  318. 
Coal.    100-102,    121-125,    154, 

167,  16S,  181,  319. 
Comets,  83,  138. 
Condensation    of    the    earth's 

original  mass,  63,  64. 
Condensation    of   the   nebular 

mass,  24,  58. 
Conflict  between  Genesis  an<l 

geology,  5. 
Conglomerates,  322,  323. 

59 


360 


GENERAL   INDEX. 


Continental  outlines,  131-134. 
Cosmogony,  46. 
Creation,  32-36. 
Cretaceous    period,    119,    248, 

266,  269,  272,  323. 
Crust  of  the  earth,   shrinking 

of,  76. 
Cryptogamous  plants,  157,  158. 

Day,  meaning  of  the  word,  52- 
57. 

Day,  present  length  of,  175, 
177. 

Decalogue,  337. 

Deluge,  207,  237,  256-299. 

Devonian  age,  149,  151,  153- 
155,  l71,  205,  212,  218,  226, 
315,  324. 

Distribution  of  plants  and  ani- 
mals, 197,  253,  254,  255. 

Douay  version,  61,  173,  206, 
214. 

Dry  land,  69,  77. 

Earth,  30. 

Earth,  cooling  of,  63,  76. 

Earth,  original  molten  condi- 
tion of,  55. 

Earth,  shrinking  of,  76. 

Edentates,  236. 

Egyptology,  309,  330,  347. 

Electricity,  21,  45. 

Eocene  period,  247,  287,  288. 

JuKoiiii  cduddcnse,  154. 

Equilibrium,  81,  85,  183,  318. 

Equinox,  53. 

p]thnology,  251. 

Evolution  theory,  229-233,  238, 
309. 

Firmament,  66-68. 

Fislu^s,  181,  205,  207,  212,  215, 

219,  325,  328. 
Flood,     universality    of,    274, 

290-299.     (See  Deluge.) 
Fossils,  7,  45,  99-111,  230,  258, 

314,  315,  324,  325,  328. 
Fourth  Commandment,  5,  338- 

354. 


Geological  periods,  shortening 

of  estimates  of,  300,  313-332. 
Geologv,  5,  45,  76-78,  99-12.5, 

151-i58,    181-186,     192-19.5, 

216,   217,  229,   240-247,  256- 

260,  313-328. 
Glaciers,    118-120,     203,    244, 

264. 
Graphite,  154. 
Gravitation,   16,  23,  45,  80-85, 

87-91,  183,  260. 
Gi'eek    philosophers,    theories 

of,  43,  44. 
Greenland,  102,  103,  105. 

Herbivora,  220,  236. 
Homotaxis,  189,  192-195. 
Hutton's  theory  of  sedimenta- 
tion, 190,  314. 

Ice  age,  148,  149. 

Icebergs,  Antarctic,  128,  130, 
131. 

Icebergs,  Arctic,  130. 

Ice  cap,  87,  88. 

Ice,  polar,  86,  87,  128,  130. 

Insects,  218,  222-225. 

Interplanetary  space,  temper- 
ature of,  22,  65. 

Ivory,  fossil,  108-111. 

Jerusalem,  335-337. 
Jupiter,  27,  137,  144. 
Jurassic  period,  271,  272,  323. 

Land  surface,  north  and  south 
hemispheres  compared,  125. 

Laurentian  rocks,  78,  79,  85, 
90,  196,  257. 

Life,  160-164. 

Life,  geological  proof  of  de- 
struction of,  182,  196,  257, 
264,  266. 

Light,  42,  45,  62. 

Litliology,  323,  324. 

Mammals,  181,  215,  220,  229. 
Mammoths,  106-111,  327. 
Man,     anticiuitv    of,     233-251. 

288. 


GENERAL   IXDEX. 


3G1 


Man,  disiiersiou  of,  236-238. 
iVfaii    in    Glacial    period"  '>44 

246,  288.  ' 

Man,  longevity  of,  303-307. 
Mars,  30,  138. 
Mars,  satellites  of,  14,  30 
Mercury,  138-143,  144-146. 
Mesozoic   time,   181,  185,   189 

H)6,  256-258,  260,  264,  265,' 

Migration  of  animals,  253-'^o5 

283,  285. 
Miocene  period,  103    '^41    ''40 
246-248.  287,  288.  '  ~  "' 

Modern  sciences,  45. 
Mollusks,  219,  220. 
Moon,    30,    71-74,  '  94-98,    136 
165.  ' 

jMoon,  libration  of,  94. 
Mosaic    cosmogony   compared 

with  others,  46. 
IVfoses,  42-44,  46-50. 
Mother  region   of  plants  and 

animals,  197,  198. 
Mountain   building,    '>7l     070 
286-288.  ^>    -'-, 

Mythology,  329,  330. 

Nebula,  photograph  of,  ex- 
plained, 24. 

Nebula',  23,  24. 

Nebular  hypothesis,  14  19- 
31,  45,  50,  79,  80,  136,  'l37 

JNeozoie  time,  182. 

Neptune,  26. 

Night,  93,  175. 


Pennian  period,  181,  182,  184, 

Plienogamous  plants,  157 
Phenomena,  description  of  tlie 

<-reation  by,  225    2''6 
Philology,  252.        ' 
Plants,  152-159,  162,  166.  315. 
Flants,    lUstribution    of     1«)7 

198.  '         ' 

Pliocene  period,  240-''4'{  -n-i 
247,  288.  "     '  "     ' 

Polar  ice,  86. 

Polar  regions,  north  and  soutli, 
99-115. 

^"gj^^'tiaiT    «gc,    229,    234, 

Pre-adamites,  239. 
Probabilities,  theory  of,  48,  49. 

Quaternary  man,  243. 

Radiates,  219. 

Rain,  65,  71,  165,  271-273 

Reptiles,  206,  208-21"  "^r? '  01 7 

219,  221,  224.  ' "       "     ' 

Rotation  of  the  earth,  55   59 

175,  177.  ' 

Rotation  of  nebular  mass    03 

55.  '  "  ' 


Ocean,  65,  69. 

Oceans,  shifting  of,  8,5-91,  314 

Origin  of  species,  229-233. 

Paleontology,  99-111  1"0-1'>3 
155,  158.  "hSl-ls.j, '  m~'^0l' 
216-219,  2.34-247,  261-267.    ' 

i'aleozoic  time,  117,  149  18'? 
184,  1S9,  196,  256.  ' 

Parallelism  of  the  earth's  a.xis, 

Patagonia,  262,  263,  266. 


Sabbath,  335-354. 
Sandstones,  316 
Satellites,  26-28',  136,  146 
Saturn,  20,  27,  137. 
Sain-ians,  217,  326. 
Schiaparelli,     discoveries    by, 

Sea-level,   changes  of    86   87 
90,  183,  315,  318.      '       '      ' 
Sea  soundings.  127. 
Seasons,    alternation    of,    94 

17.3-177. 
Secondary  age,    100,  185,   199. 

200.  248,  285,  .321. 
Sedimentation,  65.  190    191 
Seeds,  1.56-158,  164.      ' 
Septuagint,  303. 
Serpents,  209,  210. 
Silurian  age.  149,  151,  153,  154 
I'l,  219,  262.  ' 


362 


GENERAL   INDEX. 


South  America,   261-2G3,   264, 

266,  269. 
Southern  hemisphere,  cold  of, 

87,  112-116,  183,  186. 
Southeru  liemisphere,  greater 

density  of,  134,  183,  186. 
Species,  numljer  of,  282,  283. 
Species,  origin  of,  229-233. 
Species,  variation  of,  231,  232, 

283. 
Spectroscope,  25,  27,  35,  45. 
Spheroidal  shape  of  the  earth, 

55,  59. 
Spirit,  38-42. 
Stars,  34,  35,  173,  174. 
Strata,  origin  of,  65,  153,  317, 

321,  322. 
Stratified  rocks,  thickness  of, 

17,  150,  323. 
Stratigraphy  of  northei-n  and 

southern   hemispheres,   124, 

125. 
Sun,  30. 
Surface    of    ocean-bed,    north 

and  south  hemispheres,  com- 
pared, 126. 

Tacchini,  143,  144. 

Tertiary    age,    100.    229,    235, 

243,  245-247,   257,  261,   262, 

266,  271,  323-325. 
Theory  of  interpretation,  local 

ci'eation,  12. 


Theory  of  interpretation,  re- 
arrangement, 10. 

Tlieory  of  interin-etation,  vis- 
ion, 9. 

Tidal  waves,  269,  270,  274-277. 

Time  measiire,  59,  173,  174. 

Traditions,  141,  146,  249,  260, 
278-281,  284,  329,  330,  331, 
344,  345. 

Triassie  period,  181,  182,  184- 
186,  226,  266,  272,  323,  324. 

Uranus,  26,  137,  138. 
Uranus,  satellites  of,  14,  20,  26. 

Vegetation,  151-159,  162,  166, 
197,  198,  199. 

Venus,  137,  143-146. 

Vertebrates,  218. 

Vision  theory  of  interpreta- 
tion, 9. 

Void,  37. 

Voltaire,  theory  of,  about  fos- 
sils, 8. 

Waters,  38. 
Worms,  209,  223. 

Zodiac,  176. 
Zodiacal  light,  20. 
Zoology,  209,  215,  253,  254. 


Date  Due 

9 

